Like the Sun
by rlucain
Summary: Did you know that it rains here, when you are sad? Yesterday, a hurricane tore up all the flowers because you were so afraid of losing her. Don't let it rain anymore, Zuko; I hate the rain, because it means you are sad. ToKo.
1. Prologue

**Like the Sun Needs the Sky: Prologue**

** T**oday was an awfully slow day, slower than usual. It had taken the Earthbender an hour, maybe a few, to figure out why. Some well-worded questions and a few seismic vibrations, and she finally figured it out on her own. No one really told her anything anymore, even the important things, and Iroh never seemed to know much either. Perhaps it came with old age; just taking things as they came instead of being rushy and impatient like she was at times. Only certain things could make her act like a spoiled twelve year old again, and this was one of them.

Reportedly, the Fire Lord was coming - well, now he was here - to Ba Sing Se, on business of course. Supposedly, this business had a lot to do with the Earth King, whom was only recently returned to his rightful place on the throne. It had taken quite a bit of searching, but after a while, Toph, along with the rest of the Dai Li, had tracked Kuei down, wandering about the wilderness.

Now that he was back on his throne in the Earth Kingdom capitol, it was a good chance for Zuko to talk with him about various troubles plaguing the world, as they were the two most influential world leaders, and the Water Tribes were already wrapped up in rebuilding. Though Aang had been successful in finally ending the war, defeating Zuko's nutcase father (no offense to him, he came out alright in the end), it had proven to merely be the first of many steps. It'd been five years, and yet in some places, you could swear Zuko had only been crowned yesterday.

A little part of her was pissed of course. Again, no one had told her he was coming, and she had thought she of all people would have been one of the first to know. After uncle Iroh of course, and perhaps the two could have accompanied the Fire Lord to see the Earth King. He'd been kind of interesting, and Toph wanted to hear about his travels over the last few years. But instead, she was on patrol in the Middle Ring; if she found out he'd gone and seen the King before seeing her, he was in **so much trouble**. And he probably knew that too.

Since she was out and about already, Toph decided to do a little bit of shopping. She'd promised Iroh that she'd pick up a few things while on patrol that he needed, not for the Jasmine Dragon, but for around home. Heh, home; a long time ago she'd never call anywhere home, and now she had two. It was strange how things changed over the years, though in her opinion, she hadn't changed much at all, regardless of how much Iroh insisted she was 'blossoming into a lovely young woman' right before his eyes.

Quietly, she made her way through the streets, two Dai Li agents behind her on either side; she'd insisted she didn't need a personal guard or whatever, but she wasn't in the mood to argue today. Toph couldn't afford to explode at them, at least not here, as she and the Dai Li were a national symbol of sorts, of peace and the upholding of the law, though sometimes she was under the impression the symbolism only meant something to her.

Officially, she'd only assumed control of the Dai Li sometime last summer; after trials and testimonies and whatnot, she'd found it in her little stone heart to intervene and save every last one from their fate. She'd spoken for them and made a deal with the recently re-established Earth King; if she couldn't whip them into shape in three weeks, the King was then free to drop them all into the middle of the ocean via war balloon. Strangely enough, he'd agreed, and after several agonizingly long days and some horrifying Earthbending drills, they'd slipped silently beneath her command. But she'd made it pretty crystal clear too.

One toe out of line, and they were all getting tossed into the sea anyway, so they'd bloody better keep one another in line. Because she had no problems snapping each and every one of them like breadsticks and feeding their entrails to the tigersharks.

"Read this for me," she stated, handing a piece of paper to... whichever agent was to her left, her tone allowing no backtalk whatsoever. He took it wordlessly, and read it for her as she'd asked. Chopsticks, a new set of bowls, a bag of rice and flour, honey (he said it sweetened tea better than sugar, and Toph had to admit the old man had very pleasing tastes), and a new white lotus tile. Ah, right; she'd broken it on accident a few days ago. So off they went, gathering the things on the list. Naturally, the agents with her got the joy of carrying the things for her, as she was far too dignified now to do it herself. And she was pissed off anyway; the last thing she needed was to break something, as that would merely set her off.

Night began falling, the crowds beginning to thin out, and after finding a suitable replacement for the white lotus tile, the three headed to the new Dai Li base. Lake Laogai was of course destroyed, and Toph thought it a complete waste to rebuild it, even if it wouldn't take much time. It was too far away from the imperial palace for her liking, as she had every intention of being close to the Earth King, just in case he ever needed anything (and boy he needed quite a few things over the years), so she'd chosen a more suitable place.

The new building was a spin-off from the palace, on its grounds yet not a part of the main building. She'd Earthbended it into place in about eight, maybe ten seconds flat. If the Dai Li's loyalty to her had been shaky before then, such an act had certainly solidified their wavering alliance. It was mostly made of stone, with touches of metal here and there; Metalbending was still a new art, and true to her word all those years ago, Toph had never taught it to anyone, and was still the only Earthbender who could bend metal, much to the awe of the Dai Li.

It'd been almost two years since she had seen her friends. The last time they'd gathered together was for Sokka and Suki's wedding. Katara and Ty Lee had done a magnificent job with decorations and clothing choices, or so Zuko and Aang said, after she got them both to calm down long enough to describe the scenery to her. And of course, whatever fluffy silk-feeling crap they'd seen fit to put her in. Bridesmaid, her; who would have figured it? Zuko had told her she was beautiful then, which only earned him a snide retort and a firm kick to the shin. That was how she said thank you.

Thus the newlyweds had traipsed off to... probably Kyoshi Island, if Toph was to make a gander, to pass leadership of the Warriors to a fine new lady warrior (Toph's money was on Ty Lee), and then off to the South Pole to assist with the Tribe's restoration efforts. Aang and Katara were travelers now, like the good days before the comet arrived, so no one heard from them very often. Aang was still caught up in his Avatar gig, thus he had to visit the Fire Nation occasionally, and Katara had become a wandering teacher, telling stories of her time during the last year of the war, teaching children to read, and while in the North, Waterbender women how to fight with Waterbending and not just heal with it.

Nodding to a few passersby whom did so for her, Toph made her way into the Earthbent building, passing the front desk nonchalantly. Someone was in the chair, probably on record duty, and she heard the sound of papers ruffling before he stood and gave a bow. One of the newer additions to the Dai Li ranks, she could tell; his bow was awkward. "Good night, General Bei -"

Almost instantly she tensed at the beginning of her surname; so formal. He was definitely new. "TOPH."

"Er, yes. Good night, General Toph."

"Who's on duty for the night?"

"Lieutenant Meng." Well, she didn't trust Meng as much as she did Kyeong, but she had ways of dealing with traitors that seemed especially effective. That aside, there was no way she was missing out on sweet Agni-blessed sleep, a nice cup of white dragon tea (Iroh's latest specialty; it was a mix of ginseng, honey and peppermint), and a relaxing game of Pai Sho. She'd hated the game at first, when her tutors had sought to teach it to her, but uncle Iroh had made it much easier for her to learn. She could tell which tiles were which, because they had a special set of tiles that Iroh had customized himself. They were printed with the designs on the front so he could see them, and then engraved with them on the back, so she could see them through the tables. Strangely, she'd now beat him multiple times.

"Thank you. Keep an eye on him will you?"

"Of course. The Dai Li keeps an eye on itself at all times."

He was a good one; he would fit in just fine. Flicking her finger at the wall, she scribbled her name into the earth along with the time. She kept accurate records of who was serving and at what times, as well as where they were. It was easier for her to read it if it was on the wall, and also easier for her to detect any foul play; Earthbending left a small trail, and she knew immediately when someone was trying to dupe her. And he got a lovely surprise in return for his... _flattery_. ... the last one had been tied up and hung from the ceiling for a few hours. No one had yet dared to make the same mistake.

* * *

"**S**he should be home soon, Zuko," he heard, somewhere to his right, but he didn't bother looking. If he broke his concentration so abruptly right now, he'd set the entire building ablaze. Good thing he was a Firebender then, but still, it was very disrespectful to visit your extended family and set his house on fire either way.

"Alright." A deep breath in, and he raised his hands over his head, bringing them together before him slowly and methodically, controlling the direction of his energies determinedly. Something about this particular exercise calmed him greatly, the whole reason he'd given it a try in the first place. It was his uncle's suggestion, something to do every morning and night to keep himself from going insane. No one could say being Fire Lord was an easy job; he found this one out the hard way very early on, and had talked to Iroh about various things that might help him cope with the stress.

It made him see his father in a new light, though he was still power-hungry tyrant scum. And besides, Ozai had never had to bring a hundred year war screeching to a halt almost single-handedly before either. Starting one was easy, ending it was the harder part; Zuko just supposed he got the short end of the stick, so to speak. At least he had friends and family that weren't crazy and did care enough to help. In the end it wasn't so bad, and he kind of enjoyed his newfound position, not for the power but because he knew he was helping people.

But the assassination attempts could go away now.

It didn't take her very long after that to get there, by which point Zuko was already in the front room, legs propped up on the table so she couldn't feel his vibrations. Wood left her somewhat blind, though there were parts of the apartment Iroh had lined with metalat the floor's corners, making it easier for her to 'see'. He wanted his presence to be a surprise for some reason; he knew she'd be very ticked if he'd come to Ba Sing Se and met with the King before he ever stepped foot in the apartment she shared with his uncle, so he'd never had any intention of seeing the King before them.

Though she too was busy at times, he felt a lot better about her living in Ba Sing Se with Iroh; knowing that there was someone he trusted there with his uncle had alleviated a lot of original worry, and so he felt he owed it to them anyway, particularly her. She'd done a lot for him over the years. A lot he felt he'd never be able to pay her back for, but the stubborn rock didn't want anything in return. Just his friendship.

"Uncle, I'm back," he heard, and he glanced up from the table. She sounded exhausted, with just a hint of irritation; he began to worry a bit. What if she knew he was in the city already? He'd told everyone to keep their traps shut! Heavily, she dragged herself into the apartment, setting some things on the table and then flopping over onto the floor on her back, and if she could see like other people, she'd be staring at the ceiling. Zuko stayed silent, choosing not to interrupt her just yet. The silence was comforting, and no doubt all of that would be shattered like a faulty mirror the moment he said something. His uncle was in the back, making her some of his specialty white dragon tea.

She hadn't grown much taller over the last year, but he wasn't blind to how much she had changed otherwise; she was filling out the same way Katara had started to a few years previous. She wasn't stunningly gorgeous or anything (like Aang had said Katara was, but Aang was _supposed_ to think that), but he knew a woman when he saw one. She looked tired to him, sagging into the floor; of course she would merely vehemently deny this so he knew better than to ask, something he found endearing, something the both of them could understand.

Though he'd learned a lot since his father's defeat, he still had a habit of repressing his emotions; it was drilled into his head that emotion of any kind was a weakness, whether this was happiness, rage, or exhaustion even. But she had a lot to deal with, as did he; him, peace treaties and making sure the Fire Nation forces really did cease fire, and she working with the Dai Li and turning the traitorous rats (hadn't that once been him?) into a true force to be reckoned with. In his opinion, if anyone could do it, it had always been her, hands down.

It was a breath of fresh air to see her. Where everyone else had changed and moved on with their lives, she had remained something of a constant, and he frequently (albeit accidentally) compared her in his mind to an island in the middle of the ocean. He wondered what it was like for her, watching everyone around her change (or the other little islands sinking below the sea) where she had been here for the last five years straight, serving the Earth King as best she could, even before he came back.

And him too; she always had a bit of encouraging words (... harsh encouraging words, but after a few days of sulking he always saw how right she was in the end) and sound advice for him, if he would listen instead of freaking out (rebellion seige of Crescent Island anyone?). But even though he had his crown and was fixing the various mistakes his nation, his family, had made, he still felt like there was something missing. And inside he wondered if she felt the same way.

"Are you going to say hi, or just lay there like a lump of coal?" He couldn't help the few centimeters of smirk (or was it a smile?) that entered his tone.

She gave a slight start, sitting up and facing his general direction, following the sound of his voice. "Sunshine?" He let his legs slide off the table, placing his boots on the floor so she could see him better. She grinned almost ear to ear and scooted across the floor, hugging his ankle.

"SUNSHINE! I missed you! You blasphemous jerk, not telling me you were coming is a sin!" Her hand suddenly released his ankle, becoming the catalyst of a good hard Toph whack instead; she still hit hard, if not harder. And when had she learned what the word 'blasphemous' meant anyway?

"Ow, hey! I came all the way here to see you and you call me a jerk!"

"YOU BIG NINNY, YOU DID NOT!"

Ah, so she did know about his business meeting scheduled for the morning. "Er... sorry Toph. The fewer people that know I'm here, the better," he stated, sounding sincerely sorry. Not because his shin hurt now, but that was a good additional reason indeed.

"What, don't trust me now?" It wasn't that. It definitely wasn't that. She'd saved his rear on occasion, many an occasion; he trusted her as much as he trusted Iroh, but... well he was still having trouble trusting the Dai Li. Give 'em a few more years under General Toph's command, and they'd certainly be model citizens... _or else._ "Another assassination attempt, wasn't it? Let me at 'em, I'll break their necks!" At that, she stood and stubbornly returned to the door; Zuko had to scramble to catch the girl, who wasn't really a girl anymore, placing himself between her and the door. Placing both hands on her shoulders, he guided her back to the table and plopped her into a chair before taking a seat himself.

"Calm down, Hippie, and have some tea with me. It's been a while." Indeed; an entire year since he'd seen anyone in their little circle but Aang. Almost as if on cue, his uncle came in, placing a few glasses of tea on the table. Sadly for Zuko, by the time his golden gaze returned to her seat from his glass, she'd slipped out of her chair and was halfway across the room already. Luckily, he was faster than her in the wooden building, and he swiftly blocked the door from her. "You stay still or I'll really make you regret it." When had the smirk crossed his features? He could see her smirking too, and it never left their faces.

"Is that a challenge, Princess?" She always knew what buttons to push.

Even if the two weren't going to be calm, and instead chose to act like children, Iroh was content. Sipping his tea and watching the two chase each other around the apartment (both of them giving in to the desire to shriek on occasion, fueling the other's drive quite magnificently), he couldn't help but think how nice it was to have them both home again.

But he knew he was going to regret their game of squeal-tag in the morning.

* * *

**Notes:** I changed it a tiny bit, rewrote some parts, so hopefully it's a bit easier now. ^_^ As I said in the notes for the original versions, Zutarians may want to steer clear, because this is a ToKo, and I honestly don't care if you don't like it. The name is Ren, and I'm pleased to make this journey with you; please don't get too excited, I don't update very often, but I had an idea and thought I'd run with it while I could. Hm, I may actually get past chapter one this time, woo! I have part of chapter one and two in my mind (this is the prologue) and part of one written, so it shouldn't be too long for those now. Especially since my computer is broken and I have all the time in the world now! Yay! xD

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy.


	2. You Learn

**Notes;** I must say thank you first to my mother, for reading the prologue with me and helping me rewrite it in a more understandable manner (I even accidentally added more detail), your input was very helpful Matem; and second, much thanks to my reviewers for your helpful input as well. Hopefully I won't let you down, but without much further blah blah, I give you part one.

_I needed you.  
Like the ocean needs the tide.  
Like the sun needs the sky.  
Yet even the strongest of feelings die._

Part One  
_You Learn_

"**T**he rebels believe themselves capable of destroying our peace. I believe it is high time we taught them otherwise," the general intoned.

What an interesting and very Toph-like way of beginning a meeting. He'd asked his advisors and military generals (the ones he trusted, at least) to accompany him on this journey, mostly because they had a tiny bit more knowledge about the inner workings of the military than he did. Rebellions had sprung like leaks all over the peace that was the world now, most of them horribly against the idea of Zuko of all people becoming Fire Lord, but he had expected resistance. Just... not this much of it.

"And just how do you presume we do this without sparking yet another war, General Hong?" That was the question Zuko himself wanted to ask; it was as if the Earth King had read his mind from across the table.

"I believe we need to show them that we will not tolerate their tactic in some manner," he stated, almost as if he were attempting to sell an old gelding to the group than talk of war to a room of politicians and world leaders, beginning to meander about the room; "our people need to know that we are serious."

"The only way of doing that is either lower their taxes, which no one can afford right now because of the various restoration efforts, or provoke a war and beat them into submission. Neither are very promising prospects." It was the first time in almost a half hour Zuko had spoken.

"And you would defend these people, Fire Lord? They want to see nothing but your downfall, a few sacrifices for the good of the world is nothing."

The statement, while not word for word, reminded him horrifically of his father, causing him to subconsciously begin reaching for his scar, which he quelled almost as fast as it had started. _Zuko, a Fire Lord knows a few sacrifices must be made for the good of the Fire Nation. So long as we have our honor and glory, the people will throw themselves into this war for our continued power. Let them._

One of his advisors noticed the irritation the general's words had sparked, and tactically suggested, "Perhaps there is something bothering them in particular. Rebellions do not spring up over nothing, of course. If we could find the source of their displeasure, then surely we could work things out. I was under the impression the spears and swords were to be put away." The manner in which he'd chosen to end his statement made it sound more like a question, a light upward curvature, speaking mounds more than the words themselves.

"Hao is right; one does not hack at a tree's branches if one wishes to chop it down. We must find its base and destroy it there. Perhaps I should send scouts out to observe -"

"No don't," Zuko interjected, causing the Earth King to face him with a mild level of surprise. "No, don't scare them; if any of them are spotted, it could give them the wrong impression, as in the most horrible impression you can think of. We need a more... diplomatic way of doing this." He needed someone level-headed to speak to about this; damn it, and she'd gone to work this morning, spluttering something about not trusting Meng, whoever that was.

Toph was a creative mind, he'd always believed that, but also quite down to earth as well; he believed she would be able to come up with a suitable answer. Directly confronting them on the matter didn't sound like a very good idea either, because that could also give the wrong impression. _Nosy noblemen, always more interested in ending conflicts than solving them, you see!_ How he handled this was very important, because this impression would remain a lasting one. It was always the first few steps the world paid the most attention to, sadly.

Oh, man, revolting peasants were proving to be a delicate matter. He'd pulled the latter idea once; Crescent Island would have sank like a rock in a whirlpool if Toph hadn't helped him clean up his own mess.

"Give me some time to consult a few individuals I trust; but for now, I suggest we all have some tea."

* * *

**A**ll morning, she'd been getting awkward stares from the Dai Li as they did their normal routine. She definitely wasn't telling anyone, even more definitely not Zuko, but she had slept much better that night than she had in a month at least. The result was she was in a much better mood than she'd been in for an even longer time, which had put the Dai Li in an awkward way as she came in the door, actually greeting the man at the front desk before practically skipping to her office.

Oh yes, that had put them way _way_ off. She wasn't smiling, humming or making any other pleased sounds, but the way she walked just screamed she should have been; and, to top it all off, she was early. That... never happened.

To say the least, things were going markedly smoother than normal today. Not a one of the Dai Li wanted to spoil her apparent good mood, as it was a nice break from the unbending boulder the Dai Li were used to facing every morning. Something told them she would be even less pleased than normal if one of them slipped up, and each of them had her creepy borderline sadistic grin seared into their mind.

To her mild irritation, occasionally she could feel one of the Dai Li (sometimes two) smiling at her; this earned them a cold hard stare in return, which turned out that much more unsettling because of the film over her eyes. Just because she was happier than normal certainly did not mean they could flounce around and slack off.

"Come on, limp noodles, show me what you're made of! Are you Dai Li or infants?" Morning drills; indeed, Toph was a rough leader, one that took no slacking off whatsoever from the Dai Li. She was like a miniature and more devilish Azula in their eyes, but she felt it was necessary to keep them on their toes. If they didn't stay in shape, the chances of someone overtaking them climbed higher, and failure was never an option.

"We are Dai Li!"

"Well don't tell me, show me! Idiots."

Thus, one half was on patrol in the morning while the other half did drills with her, and then they swapped in the evening. It worked brilliantly, one of her more genius ideas, if she did say so herself. Though they were still getting used to the routine, as it was a fairly new implementation.

"Your stance is terrible, Jing." To demonstrate, her foot slid out, kicking his leg; he fell over, and she nodded as if a sage. "Your feet need to be further apart; spread your weight out, you're out of balance."

He stood up, and spaced his feet better; "Yes, General." She nodded her approval, continuing her walk up and down the rows. There was nothing more calming for her than to walk around, feeling each movement as half her forces moved in sync with one another. This was what she did every morning and every night, yet for some reason it never became boring.

These were the basic Earthbending drills; they always did these first, even though the wet noodles continuously insisted they knew the basics and didn't need to train them. That is, until she kicked a few of their behinds using said basics they swore they knew. Thus they conceded, as they always did. She certainly had an interesting relationship with her troops, but each one was relentlessly loyal to her.

She had after all saved their necks.

"Alright, take a break, it's hot today," she stated, and everyone stopped all at once, giving a bow before heading off to the sides, toward the water of course. ... at least it wasn't as bad as the Fire Nation got. How they could stand it was beyond her, but she thought the same thing about the South Pole.

One of them seemed to be approaching, but she recognized their walk as soon as they got closer; it was Hian. She wondered for a flicker of a moment what he was doing there, but decided to just see what he had to say before jumping her guns. Even though the latter sounded much more interesting. Hian was skittish.

"General Toph," the man began; she nodded, weaving through her men and standing to the side.

Hian was one of the Earth King's advisors, and head of the palace's security. He was taking a more active part in the restoration these days, and had changed his dress code to suit; Toph liked his choice. It was reminiscent of what she used to wear, before she became the commander of the Dai Li. "This had better be important, Hian." There was no irritation in her tone, just a tiny upward lilt that suggested impatience.

"Of course. This morning's meeting has just ended, and the Fire Lord requested I let you know. He said something about going to... a dragon?"

Oh man, Hian really needed to get out more. She knew what he was talking about; Zuko had said he'd be at the Jasmine Dragon. Shifting her weight, she made a mental note to drag Hian to the tea shop someday; Iroh would be pleased to meet someone new. Besides, he was all tensed up. It made her wonder exactly what the meeting had been about, but she was sure eventually she'd hear about it from someone. "Alright then. As you can see, I'm tied up right now, but I know what he meant."

"Good day then, General."

As commander of the law enforcement in Ba Sing Se, she had many a someone to meet with later, mostly noblemen with a little less than peaceful resolution in mind. The bad news was, she wouldn't have some free time until well after lunch. The good news in all of this was, sometimes she had the added bonus of having her father by her side during these many disputes, in which case things went much easier.

Her father had the gift of the silver tongue, something she'd never noticed before (but when had either of them taken the time to really get to know the other?), and said nobleman turned out much less inclined than he might usually be to down-play her intelligence and position. She'd worked her butt off getting where she was, so without her father around, things were a tiny bit more annoying for all parties.

Over time, she had begun picking up his tact; sometimes, she reminded herself of Azula.

Yes, after quite a bit of arguing, she'd managed to repair her relationship with her parents. So long as she kept in contact, they were happy for her. Mostly anyway; eventually she'd also talked her father into helping her manage the more official affairs of Ba Sing Se. So to speak, she was one of the Earth King's governors, assisting in restoring the city and the Earth Kingdom as a whole back to its former glory. And he knew she was a woman of her word, even if that word was horribly blunt. Thus he trusted her much more it seemed than he had Long Feng.

Who had been eventually released from prison and thrown into a river, if you were wondering, with the wise advice to take the chance for a new life while he had it.

"Back to your places, Ladies, start the second round." Turning on her heel, she returned to what she was doing. The Dai Li silently returned to their positions, and started the second round of drills; this one required a bit more concentration than the one before it, as each member was to pull up a large boulder and then break off a small piece. Then he was to push it away from the boulder, up and around, and push it in the other side. For the next fifteen minutes straight.

You'd really be surprised how many screwed up after a few minutes and broke something. And sure enough, only three minutes in and she heard the sound of something shattering.

* * *

"**A**lright, that's it; what's wrong with you?" His eyes flicked from the glass of tea she'd set before him to her, and she seemed to be studying something intently. If he didn't know better, he'd assume she was staring at his hand, but Zuko knew she was paying attention to his vibrations, and had clearly found something that she didn't like.

Granted, he was wrapped up in thought. He thought it was a bit unfair, how she'd just gotten back from doing far more work than he had, and instead she'd decided it was a good idea to serve him tea. Iroh had said she'd done so on occasion when he had his hands full, but the Dragon was... rather empty today. And she had to be tired, but that said, this _was_ Toph after all. She had more endurance than their entire little circle put together sometimes.

It was scary.

"Nothing," he answered evenly. She'd see right through it. "I was just thinking." Her nose twitched a tiny bit, like it did when she thought there was something amiss; it'd taken him a few months to notice that little quirk, but now he couldn't miss it. She nodded once, placing the serving tray down and sitting across from him.

"What about?"

It was an innocent enough question; he hadn't told her or anything, about Mai. And he hadn't talked to her about dealing with the rebellion either, feeling that it would be best if he waited for a while. You know, maybe morning. Someone else had first shift tomorrow, some guy named Haru. Knowing her, she'd figure it out by sunset.

"Just... things." Smooth one Zuko. Her eyebrow quirked upward. "Er. You... remember Mai right? Wait, never mind, of course you remember Mai. Um..."

She seemed to read his mind, and stood up, motioning for him to do the same and follow her. "Come on. We'll go outside." He was grateful for that, as he hadn't even realized it was the publicity that made him so nervous. He stood as she suggested, pushing his chair in and taking his glass before following her. Since his hair was down and a right mess, he didn't feel uncomfortable outside. No one really knew what he looked like without his hair in a topknot anyway.

Besides; world's greatest Earthbender right beside him. To his slight embarrassment, he felt oddly safer next to her than anywhere else.

The two went out the back door and down the staircase; she'd made a little garden in the back, full of various kinds of flowers. Fire lilies, even, much to his surprise. It was a wonder she'd managed to make them grow here, so far north. Then again, she was a lady of various talents, but he never would have pinned her for a gardener. Maybe it was an Earthbender thing. She took a seat on a boulder and he did the same, flopping down next to her.

"I got the idea," she started, breaking through the awkward silence. He wasn't sure what to say. Well, no, he knew what to say, it was just how to say it that was escaping him. It was a delicate sort of matter, one he, as of now, wasn't entirely certain he wanted to share with her; but she'd been there through a lot of things with him, and figured she would want to know. "Judging from your stuttering -"

"I do not stutter," he stated, his arms folding over each other across his chest. "I manishly articulate."

"Right, Princess. You stuttered, face reality, I thought we'd already learned what happens when you lie to yourself." She paused; she was getting a kick out of this. "Things explode!"

"Alright alright, I stuttered. What were you saying?"

Her lips tilted sideways a bit into a crooked smirk; yep, she was definitely getting a kick out of this. "Judging from your manish articulation," well at least she wasn't making the blow worse, "something serious went down between you and Mai. ... you wanted to talk about it, right?" Of course he did; he just wasn't sure how to word it. It wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world, after all. "Did you ask her to marry you or something? I think she'd make an alright Fire Lady... if not a bit boring." Too right she was, but honestly, Zuko had never considered it. He wondered what it would have been like if he had, how Mai and even Toph would have reacted. Too late now.

"No. Um... she's kind of... dead now."

The silence that stretched between them made him regret saying anything. He was used to her talking a lot, always having something sarcastic to say, but she said absolutely nothing, and part of him wished she would. The two sat there, she feeling his vibrations, he watching her; she didn't ask any complicated questions, or demand to know how or why or any other thing he couldn't answer properly for her. Not because he didn't know, but because he wasn't sure how to say it. He knew, but didn't understand.

And she understood that without a single word being spoken.

* * *

**Notes;** Don't kill me yet.

"You Learn" by Alanis Morissette.


	3. So Much for the Afterglow

Part Two  
_So Much for the Afterglow_

_Previously on Like the Sun.  
_"I believe we need to show them that we will not tolerate their tactic in some manner."  
"Give me some time to consult a few individuals I trust."  
"She's kind of... dead now."

**N**ever before in her life had she been rendered as speechless as that one sentence had made her. Well, except for maybe the time she kissed Suki thinking she was Sokka. Oh she had plenty of things to say in response, but none of them felt right in her mind. After several long agonizingly silent hours, they'd finally gone back into the Dragon, and she'd helped Iroh close for the night before the three retreated to the apartment.

The last she had heard, Mai and Zuko had a very pleasant relationship; that said, that 'last she had heard' was over a year ago. Just when did she die? That was what she wanted to know the most, but, knowing how everyone else reacted to some of the things she said and asked, she'd felt it would be best if she just didn't say anything at all.

So, they'd gone the rest of the night not talking to one another. Across the room, as she set the china in their proper places and wiped the counters down mutely, she could feel his apprehension; he'd taken the time to glance at her a few times, and she knew he was worried about her silence. She just didn't want to pour salt on an open wound, a mentality she'd slowly developed after spending time with her mother.

Not to say her mother had recently had anyone close to her die or anything, but Poppy Bei Fong was a more delicate type than Toph had ever been. She'd found it necessary to watch what she said around her, even if she was intent on being herself when she was with her parents these days. Her parents meant a lot to her, and it did really matter to her whether or not her words hurt their feelings; she felt a similar but not quite identical concern when it came to Zuko.

Likely, she would have gone the entire evening not uttering a word to anyone, but, a few minutes after Iroh had retired and she had begun thinking of doing the same (thankfully, there was no need to wake up early in the morning, as she'd asked Haru to cover the morning for her, since Zuko was in town), Zuko's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Um... Toph?"

"Yes?"

"You... aren't mad at me right?"

She barely repressed the urge to laugh; "Of course not, Fireball." He made an awkward sound that seemed somewhere between relief and confusion. Yeah, Toph never claimed to be easy to understand; half the time she didn't even understand herself. "I just... never mind. It's nothing. Not you, or anything, just. Things." Wow, was that really all she managed to say? What happened to her eloquence, really.

He stood up, crossing the distance between them. The vibrations he sent across the room felt like he was hurt about something, but she didn't ask after it. The last thing she wanted was for him to melt into a puddle of emotional on her, as she had very little idea of how to deal with it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"WHOA whoa whoa, back up, _you_ are apologizing to _me_ when it was _your girlfriend_ that died? Excuse me?" There we go; this was a situation she knew how to handle. Nothing like good old fashioned Toph sarcasm.

"She... wasn't exactly my girlfriend at the time. And anyway, she died a long time ago. That's um... why I didn't write for a while a few months back."

Alright, that explained that. Which meant this had all happened a good while ago; she wondered how he'd done with it, dealing alone like that. Obviously not terribly well if he'd chosen to cut himself off from her and Iroh. That made her worried, a little, but she went with the time tested silence thing. "Wait, what? She wasn't?" That confused her a bit; what would have made them break up?

"No, she wasn't." He paused for a moment, shifting around and sitting. "We... actually got into a fight the week before..."

* * *

_**T**__here was nothing more annoying than knowing your own girlfriend wasn't listening to you. Sure, he could understand that what he did every day was boring (he even had some trouble staying awake through it all at times), but she could have at least tried to sound interested. He couldn't remember any instance in which he'd completely blown her off, like she had at lunch that day._

_One meeting after another, his various advisors and the like telling him about this or that, so he could get a feel for how things were at the present moment (probably a good thing, he'd never really paid attention to it; the whole time he was ever in the Fire Nation, he was too busy trying to get his father to pay attention to him). It made him feel better to have someone to talk to about it, since Iroh was in Ba Sing Se, and everyone else had scattered around. It wasn't necessary that she answer him at any point, or give any advice or whatever, it was just... how hard was it to listen to someone?_

_But no, she wasn't even listening, too busy, it would seem, throwing a knife at the floor, picking it up and repeating the process. The constant thunking was beginning to grate on his nerves; he heard enough of that while dealing with the military, he didn't need it from his girlfriend of all people too. And wasn't it rude not to listen to people when they talked to you?_

_That aside, she was slowly ruining the Persian._

_So he'd decided to say something about it. He'd gone for a more delicate approach, attempting to ask her to listen to him, or at least pretend she was, rather than blatantly ignore him. "Uh, Mai? Can I talk to you for a second?"_

_"Sure." Her tone was just as bored as it always was. Really, did she honestly never find anything interesting at all? Azula had apparently hated the world too, but even she had found torture interesting. Not that he was suggesting torture for a hobby... but the point was, even Zula had her various hobbies, as psychotic and evil as they later proved to be._

_In her mind though, Zuko knew there was nothing wrong with what she was doing; Mai or Azula? Take your pick, they were both the same on that mindset. That made it even worse, that neither ever really understood what they were doing was wrong, as if children that knew no better._

_"It's tiny really, I was just... thinking maybe you could um... actually listen to me when I talk? I mean... you don't have to respond or anything it'd just -" he was interrupted by a loud sigh, and his gaze went from the floor to her; she looked more bored than usual, as if he was discussing the weather that hadn't changed in about a week._

_"I lost a lot of things to stay here with you; both of my friends are gone, I never see my parents, and I do absolutely nothing all day, and you want me to listen to you?" She sounded a tiny bit annoyed; just a tiny bit, as she rarely ever displayed real full-on emotion._

_"It can't really be that bad. I can find you some friends? Or... find them yourself, no one's making you stay here all day."_

_"That's just it, you're not making me but I know if I'm not here for you to spill your life story to, you'll go into depressing mode." He was totally stunned; he didn't spill his life story, and especially not all day. And he would not go into 'depressing mode', he just liked having someone to talk to; but she didn't have to be here all the time either, he could wait. Or even go with her, that'd probably be a bit more constructive than mulling it over. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her going out and finding new friends if that was what she wanted, but holy Agni._

_"I'm definitely not that bad, you're free to go wherever you want to go when you want to go, don't pretend I ever implied something that controlling."_

_"Get off your soap box, already, it's not all about you!"_

_"Oh my apologies, I was under the impression this argument was about __**you**__. Can't think of anything better, little miss Dullsville?"_

_"You really need to learn to speak for yourself; you sound like that blind bat." ... he really did._

_"She is not a bat, and she's done more for me as just a friend in the last three weeks than you've done as someone I'm supposed to be spending the rest of my life with this entire four years. And you're in no position to say that, you can't even keep your head in the same room as your body long enough to hear __**yourself**__ talk!" Well at least she was listening for once._

_"I -"_

_"Just get out, before one of us does something stupid." She didn't say anything to that, merely gave him a heated glare and then stormed out of the room. 'Listen to me' was just a nicer way of saying 'do as I say, not as I do, and never mind that you don't want to anyway'. First it was listen to me, then it became do me a few favors, then she was practically his slave not his girlfriend. She lost __**everything**__ because of him, and he had the nerve to expect her to listen to him constantly whine about this or that political tactic... like she even cared about that crap._

_She'd thought she'd gotten that across already; the only thing she cared about was him. These days though, she was starting to reconsider that statement. What exactly did she even care about? The only positive she could think of was he was a great kisser and he was cute too, if you could ignore the left side of him. Eventually, Mai ended up kicking a rock and flopping into the grass in the courtyard, and she didn't move until well past nightfall._

_He was moping. See, she knew he'd fall into depression mode if she wasn't around. It was just civic duty, really. After the raging hormones wore off, he'd gotten really boring really quick, and she'd seen then exactly how terribly different they were. They were like the sun and the rain. Rarely did the two exist harmoniously together at the same time, or whatever other fluffy junk she could think of. But she honestly had nowhere else to go or any idea what to do if she wasn't with him, so, may as well try that apology thing._

_"Look, Zuko, I'm sorry alright? I didn't -"_

_"Just go." He sounded utterly defeated. "Go... see your parents you seem to miss so much. Maybe it'll bring your brain back." Her weight shifted a bit, either uncomfortable or irritated; she wasn't sure yet._

_"You're going to be like this now?"_

_"Like this? Me, like this? Don't even talk to me about who is being like what, __**you**__ started this entire thing. Reap what you sow, Mai."_

"She tried changing her tune later, but I guess the blow to my ego was too much for me; I completely ignored it. We fought for another day or two before I finally told her we were done and it'd be best for her to just leave. She died five days later, saving me from an assassin."

He'd never figured out why she might have done that. After all, the two were practically at one another's necks. Heh, knowing her love of drama (because it was funny and no other reason), it was just a good way to end the argument. The entire thing, however, had gone crashing down around her ears because she hadn't survived her apology.

Toph was silent through the entire explanation; he couldn't find anything in her features, or the way she had slowly sat down on the floor, the way she fiddled with her pantleg. Maybe he shouldn't have told her at all. Everything was so awkward now, as if he'd just told her Aang had died. True, Toph had always been a little nicer to Mai than she had anyone else, he assumed because they came from similar backgrounds, but there was no real reason for her to be that upset.

"I have an idea." She stood up, taking his hand and tugging him toward the door with a bright grin on her face. ... alright, maybe she wasn't as upset as he first thought. But that grin was scarier than her silence.

* * *

"**W**here are we going?"

"Just hush and you'll see, impatient pants." Why this had been one of the first things to come to mind (and why she was listening to that little voice in her head) she had no idea. It sounded like a good distraction, and if she'd learned anything from her time around him it was distractions were good, very good. Give him something else to do and suddenly it just doesn't matter anymore. Maybe it was all for nothing though, as he didn't really seem too upset over it anymore.

Maybe it was less for him and more for her, a good excuse to change her mind on the entire ordeal.

Yes, she had nothing to do all morning tomorrow, but she could have thought something better up. This would probably turn out very awkward and end with her having another grand excuse to sleep in. But maybe it would be good for him too, in the end, give him a chance to loosen up a bit. He might even make a few friends. She'd noticed a natural habit from him, one that irritated her to no end (alright so it was worry, but she wasn't about to admit that); he tended to throw himself into whatever he was doing at the time to distract himself from disconcerting situations, and she had no doubt anywhere in her mind that he'd likely driven himself half insane with his Fire Lord duties and the like after Mai's death.

She came to a stop in front of a stone wall, turning around to face him. No one was out and about tonight, aside from a few Dai Li on patrol, but there was nothing to hide from them. They already knew.

"Congratulations, Fire Lord Zuko," she stated, a grin in her tone. "You have just officially become my date."

"Say what?" She didn't answer, instead turning back around and raising her hands; a doorway opened with the motion, and she tugged him in and closed the opening behind her. Down through the winding tunnels she went, holding onto his hand so he didn't get lost. There was really no other direction to go anyway, but just in case. He had his random stupid moments. Or just adorably naive moments, like Aang?

Yeeaaaa no.

She stopped at an opening, letting him get a good look at where he was. The Crystal Catacombs of old Ba Sing Se. She let his hand go and he scratched his head. "Why are we here?" Good question, which would be answered momentarily, and not with words.

"Come on, no time to waste."

"And what did you mean by 'date'?"

"What, never been on one before?" He bristled a bit, seeming offended; she took that the wrong way. "Calm down, I didn't really mean... just as friends. I didn't want to come originally, because it's really awkward being here for these alone, but since you're in town, you get the honors of accompanying me. Isn't it great?" Sometimes, her ego was worse than his. Quietly, she lead him around a series of crystals and up another tunnel, which opened into...

Hm, they were actually early, imagine that.

It wasn't really anything special to see, but Zuko still let out a tiny "Whoa," as if he'd seen something magnificent. Toph didn't assume he'd seen any gathering so simple before, but if that was what he was thinking, he didn't voice it. It wasn't meant to be anything special anyway, because that was just how they liked it. Familiar.

"Hey, the General did make it!" She recognized the voice, and raised her hand, giving a slight wave to the man in question. One of her Lieutenants, the one taking morning - 'ey wait a minute.

"HARU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" She felt him cringe at the sound of her shrieking; actually, several people did.

"Hey, calm down, I can get up early in the morning." He paused to hand Meng a drink. "I won't stay all night, I just couldn't really miss it. Who's your friend?" Oh right, no one would really recognize Zuko with his hair down. You'd think the scar would be a story in and of itself, but a lot of people around here had burn scars.

"The Fire Lord." She could feel the tension from halfway across the cave. "Now it's my turn to tell you all to relax. Everyone, this is Zuko, Zuko this is everyone. Precisely, Meng," a short stocky man with spiky hair gave a light wave, "Kyeong," one of the men helping build the bonfire stopped and turned around, giving a bow instead of a wave. He always was respectful. But he really needed to cut his hair, it was everywhere. "Haru," he too gave a wave before handing Toph a drink; it was just juice. "And Jing," the other one helping with the bonfire stopped, but he gave a hello instead of a wave.

"You sure have a lot of friends."

"Pf, they're all in the Dai Li. More are coming too. We do this every so often, just kind of invade the catacombs and build a bonfire and talk, play games, whatever all night. It's awkward alone, they all seem to think I can't have fun." A smirk here. Not that having him there would help much, in her opinion, but you never knew. It wasn't all that awkward in the long run, mostly because she knew them all now; it was good for bonding as a group, as at one time they'd been very loosely tied together with only a leader as evidence of them being a whole. Now, they were all friends, Toph included, but she just felt Zuko could use the distraction. Besides, it was good to get out and let go once in a while, even if that 'letting go' wasn't all that crazy in the long run.

She'd seen some of the gatherings in the Lower Ring; not pretty.

She started walking toward the bonfire, juice in hand, and had a seat. Zuko just stood there, like he had no idea what to do, and he quite possibly did not. "Well come on, they won't bite." He finally followed, Haru handing him a drink too, and had a seat beside her.

"They... won't blow anything up right?" He didn't really sound all that concerned to her, as if it were merely a passing interest, but she couldn't help the snide remark. It was what she did; Toph, Earthbending Master, Queen of the Dai Li, Connoisseur of Tea, Ass Kickings and Snide Remarks. ... she should get a contact card with that printed on it.

"If you're so worried, go help." Apparently he wasn't that worried, because he made no signs of moving anytime soon.

**T**he small gathering had rapidly become a large gathering, as almost half of the Dai Li trickled into the cave in a steady stream. If he was to be honest, he really had to wonder what had made Toph decide to drag him along, but it wasn't as if he was complaining either. Each one that had actually talked to him (he'd learned after the first three to get there after them to just introduce himself as Zuko and leave it at that) had turned out more than interesting.

At the moment, a couple had paired off and gone to play Pai Sho, with a handful watching, and a few more off to the side playing a card game. A handful were playing a dice game, a friendly match of Earth Soccer farther out. If Iroh ever learned of this he'd have a field day; Zuko's uncle was almost a game entrepreneur. But while everyone else was paired off playing games or watching, a small group was over with him and Toph, just talking and sipping various teas, juices or wines. The fire blazed happily (courtesy Zuko, who had eventually gotten up and offered to help, lighting the flame with Firebending while the rest of them opened vents for the smoke to get out with Earthbending), and all in all, it was a pleasant experience so far.

"For some reason, Jing had no idea where to go this morning," the man with the green headband, Haru, was saying. It was strange to Zuko, meeting him, because from the man's accounts of the war, they had almost crossed paths a few times. "I had to drag him to the right building, and it was as if he didn't even see it the first time."

"How do you miss something like that? It's a behemoth." That one was Kyeong; Toph had said his name a bit more fondly than she had said anyone else's name, and Zuko found himself glaring at him a few times. The good news was, he didn't seem to notice it.

"That was what I was thinking, it's very hard to miss with its... earthiness." A few snickers went around the small circle, and Toph made an irritated expression.

"You say that as if it were a bad thing."

"Of course not, I just couldn't find a better adjective."

He was met with a hand whacking him in the arm; idly, Zuko noted she'd hit Haru less hard than she'd hit him the night before. "Likely story, Musty."

"Come on, Toph, I shaved it off a week ago!"

"I know," she replied, a smirk across her features. "But you still had one once." He had to smile at that; even he still got stuck with his nicknames. Hothead, Sunshine, Cracklespark (after he learned to bend lightning), Fireball, the ever annoying Princess... never mind that he wasn't as much of a hot head as he used to be and neither was he a prince (MASCULINE, thank you), he was still one once. And apparently for Toph, that was more than enough justification.

"Well," one of the more silent members of their small circle spoke up, "I'm just glad I don't have a nickname." Toph had introduced him as Lieutenant Meng; that explained who she'd been muttering about that morning, and Zuko had to admit he wasn't on his favorites list either. But then Zuko had never been much of a 'people person', as his sister would say it.

"You just wait. I'll think of something." And that wasn't a maybe either.

* * *

"**M**y mother was a bender. Me, I'm just a guy that knows his way around a sword," Kyeong was saying as he 'escorted' Zuko and Toph back to the Jasmine Dragon. He had patrol duty for the rest of the night anyway, and said it'd be an honor to make sure the two didn't run into any trouble. Zuko found himself very much taking a liking to him; even though Toph didn't really need help (and neither did he), he was just that loyal to her.

"She was a Firebender, actually. Chose to side with Fire Lord Ozai, but me and my pops split like bananas and decided to hide in Ba Sing Se. I was too young to understand then, but now I think my dad was right." Zuko nodded his agreement. "It must have been tough, taking over as Fire Lord after that whack job was un-bent. No offense."

"Hey, none taken." Zuko raised his hands to emphasize, stopping as they reached the front door. They'd have to get to the apartment through the back, since the front was locked up already.

"Well, since you're both safely home, I'll get to patrol duty. Good night, General Toph, Zuko," Kyeong stated, putting his hands together, fist to palm, and giving a bow before scurrying off toward the Middle Ring. He was glad Kyeong had said Zuko instead of Fire Lord hubdrub. It was nice, just being him rather than some distant world leader; his conversations with them all helped him understand what it was everyone expected from him as a Fire Lord, without the need for awkward questions to be asked.

"Shall we go in, then?" She didn't feel like going in, but it'd been a fairly long day. After drinking games, name-calling, Pai Sho and dice, dancing around the bonfire, random invasion drill (she'd only pulled it once this time, because she was very pleased with how quickly they had all responded to it; even Zuko was impressed with how well she'd trained them). But it seemed he had a different plan.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, actually, if you didn't mind." He sounded unsure of himself, and she could sense the beginning of his manish articulation already.

"Of course, Fireball, no need to ask really just start talking and I'll listen," she said, leading the way to the back anyway, but to sit in her garden instead. He followed mutely, as if mulling things over, not speaking again until they had been sitting for a few minutes.

"The meeting this morning was about the various rebellions springing up; most of them seem to be converging together into one large army, and I, along with plenty of others, am worried about this one large army causing more problems than anyone can afford to deal with right now." He wasn't sure yet what he wanted to do about it, but Hao had indeed been right; it was best to find the source of the dissention and pick it apart systematically.

It still felt dirty and underhanded, doing it that way, but they couldn't risk riling them up even worse and having a full-blown war on their hands either.

"So... what did you decide to do?" He'd figure something out; he always did.

"Hong seems to want to go a less than diplomatic route, but Hao suggested finding the source of their troubles, what it is exactly they are rebelling about, and then going from there." She nodded mutely, her eyes seemingly staring across the garden. "The problem is, no one is sure exactly how to go about gaining this information. I'd rather not have another Crescent Island on my hands." She nodded more emphatically this time, knowing exactly what he meant by that.

A small rebellion had sprung up on the island, and Zuko himself was too busy to address the issue personally, so he'd sent a few admirals out to see what the trouble was and control it. ... problem; apparently rebelling peasants don't like being controlled. Toph eventually showed up, Earthbended everyone away from one another, skillfully got to the heart of the problem (something about their rice stores being lower than normal), told Zuko to start a food drive and walked away. And after Zuko transported some of the capitol city's food store to the island, they'd been happy ever since.

It was like watching a smaller and less annoying version of his sister save his rear; kind of creepy, but not. Alright so it was at least impressive.

"Hm..." she started, and he sat up a bit. "Why don't we try the good time tested tact?"

"Which is...?"

"You and me go wandering around in the general area of this rebellion. Sometimes, blending in and making yourself seem a part of them gets you farther than attempting to spy on them and whatever. Setting them off doesn't sound like a good idea; people do stupid things when they feel threatened."

"Do you honestly think you and me, two of the most well known people, could seriously get around unnoticed? There are a couple things I'm _sure_ they're bound to notice about us." Her eyes narrowed a little, but she didn't seem upset; more like she was thinking. He sighed a bit. It was a good idea in theory, but, well his scar kind of stuck out and she was... he wouldn't be surprised if she was anyway, the only blind Earthbender in the world. At least the only blind Earthbender worth her weight in salt, that is.

"So we'll have to do some make-overs. You could just do an eyepatch thing instead, and me... um... I'm pretty sure I could make everyone think I'm a boy."

"I think you'd need to make everyone think you're a girl instead." He wouldn't be surprised if Sokka and Suki could hear the smack she gave him from the South Pole.

* * *

**Notes;** Much better version of their argument now. Makes much more sense, and I tossed in some of her side of the field to kinda connect a few dots.

"So Much for the Afterglow" by Everclear.

Sorry if this was overly slow... stuff starts kickin' into high gear next chapter. And we get a few ahm. Surprises. ;3

Might be disappearing for a few days within... a few days. Just got a bright neon green bill from the internet company in the mail, and we're broke, so it may very well get cut off. Sigh, if it aint my computer its the internet bill~ The good news is by Monday we'll be expecting about 1,300 dollars in the mail, and I get a 500 gig hard drive, which is liek, twice as big as the old one. Fwoopdewoop! ... for some reason that word makes me think of humpty dumpty...

Oh and yes I'm aware there's probably no such thing as a Persian rug in Avatar-land, but, calling it anything else would have totally ruined the feel. xD


	4. Ya Tvoya Ne Pervaya

Part Three_  
Ya Tvoya Ne Pervaya_

_Previously on Like the Sun:  
_"WHOA whoa whoa, back up, _you_ are apologizing to _me_ when it was _your girlfriend_ that died?"  
"Reap what you sow, Mai."  
"You have just officially become my date."  
"I think you'd need to make everyone think you're a girl instead."

"**A**re you sure you want to do this, Zuko?"

It was the fifth time in the last six minutes that his uncle had asked him that; yes, he was sure he wanted to do this. Toph's suggestion was more than fitting in his opinion, considering the circumstances. The best way to get to know your enemy was to live like one, if the fiasco five years ago had taught him anything at all. He had no qualms whatsoever about doing this; he trusted Iroh, and he trusted Jeong Jeong, and he trusted Ursa. There was nothing to worry about.

Except maybe the assassin that was after his neck following them and getting Toph instead.

Yes, that one definitely worried him a bit. However, he would not say anything; even if he told her to stay here, she would not. Sometimes she was a stubborn boulder; but it was oddly cute. Fixing the awkward sideways headband Toph had magically produced that morning, only a few days after their... 'date' (he still was not sure how he'd felt about that one), he nodded... _again_. Looking himself over in the mirror on his uncle's wall, he actually rather liked what he saw. Green and brown suited him for some reason, and his scar buried underneath a flash of white. Not to suggest he was still ashamed of his scar or anything; if it was not for this scar, he would not be where he was. However, on the other hand, it was nice just to look like someone else for once.

It covered the entire thing, stylishly too.

"I trust you and Jeong Jeong, and if all else fails, I trust my mother. Assassins are not stupid either; they will figure out I am not in the palace anymore. At the very least, it gives you all a break from it." He offered a sideways smile; only seeing out of one eye would take some getting used to, but he had done it before.

"But that's just it, Zuko," his uncle pressed, pouring them both some more tea. "While you are gone, the assassin will be after you. It is never wise to walk to your enemy without knowing who your enemy is." Yeah, he had a point. However, if it really came down to it, he would just snag the short Earthbender and run for it, or have her drop the two several feet underground and go a random direction; it wasn't like they were going anywhere specific, randomness would be perfectly acceptable. That was a plan.

"We'll be fine Uncle; don't worry so much; you'll ruin your favorable features with wrinkles." Iroh gave a light chuckle, before shaking his head and sobering.

"We are not certain this assassin has always been the same person. There may be more than one, and if there is more than one, you two alone may not be enough. Just remember that. Run today to fight tomorrow."

Zuko nodded, having already thought that. "Of course, I have already thought about this." Assuming he could get a certain someone to run. Speaking of a certain someone, there she was.

"Are you done preening, Princess? We've got a road to meet." He turned from his reflection, finally satisfied with how he looked (he was assuming his Earth Kingdom identity again; it'd been five years since someone called him Lee... this would be interesting). Toph stood in the doorway, her hair shorter than he had ever seen it, clothed in blue and white. Somehow, she still managed to make the hair loopies work, pinned in place behind her ears.

She would be a Water Tribe girl named Rakaia. That would also take some getting used to.

"Yeah," he finally said, quickly finishing his tea and shouldering the bag he packed. Iroh had insisted on stuffing it full of tea, but there was enough dried meat and fruit to keep them going on the road for a while. Yet if worse came to worse, catching something was... easy enough? When was the last time he had caught his dinner...

"We should say goodbye to everyone first; I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. ... This isn't on backwards is it?" His uncle laughed, wandering over to her and patting her shoulder.

"It looks fine, dear. Katara would be proud." His uncle was right; she had it down to the tiniest detail, even Katara's necklace. He wondered how she had replicated it. It did not look the same, though. The choker was a lighter blue, and the stone's design was different, but aside from that, yea it was definitely passing.

"Hah, she'd be proud over anything I do. ... Except scamming people, she has never liked that."

They still had to say their goodbyes to everyone, mostly just the Dai Li, Toph's parents, and the Earth King. Thus, he, Toph and Iroh left the Dragon and headed for the palace. The Dai Li Lieutenants were already out and waiting for them, along with some of the officers, the head of security, Hian (he always reminded Zuko of himself, all serious), Kuei, Lao and Poppy, and Jeong Jeong, surprisingly.

Well, maybe it was not so surprising; Jeong Jeong had been in Ba Sing Se for a while, keeping Fire Nation connections with the Earth King in tact and assisting with restoration efforts.

"Alright limp noodles; if I come back, and find _anything_ out of order, you are all doing drills for six weeks straight." She had chosen to leave Kyeong and Haru in charge, both of whom Zuko had to admit were good choices. Kyeong was a nice person, and Haru was all right (though he did not seem to like the Fire Lord much. But what else was new?). Her father would be by every so often to check on them and whatnot, and her mother was handling all the paperwork.

If he did not know better, he could swear she had been planning this for weeks; she had only had three days. That was quite impressive.

"Oh, don't worry about us, General," Kyeong started. "We'll be fine. You two just tread carefully; bandits are everywhere."

"HA! I **am** a bandit. Ah teach them ninnies a thing or two about butt kicking." To emphasize this point, she aimed a few poorly executed punches at the air. Her mother gave her an odd look, and a hug, followed by her father. Zuko chose to give his uncle a hug, and shake Kyeong and Haru's hands.

"But seriously, don't do anything rash," Kuei warned; Zuko knew it would go in one ear and out the other. Toph was a woman of the sporadic. There was no telling what she would do, and he started worrying about the assassin again, but quickly shoved that away. They would be fine; he had to believe that, or he would go insane.

He really hoped nothing went sour. The only memories of traveling the world he had were the ones in which he was running for his honor, or running for his life. For once, he would like to get to see the world and not be on someone's tail, or have someone on his tail. Stalking was not cool!

"Come on, Top hat, do I really strike you as someone who'd do something rash?" No one said anything. "... Oh come on, I've calmed down a lot!"

"Yes yes, just... get out of town, before we change our minds and make you bring friends," her father said. Apparently that was not a favorable prospect for Toph, as by the time Zuko had let out a snicker, she was already making a beeline for the gates.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, both of them seemingly lost in thought. For Zuko at least, there was a lot to think about. Even if they did find something that could help them end the rebellion, doing so without using force could end up, ah... tricky. He was pretty much determined not to employ the military for this unless it was necessary; and he really hoped it never came to that.

It seemed stupid; finally ending the War and then ending up right back in one.

"So... do you have any idea where we're going?" Toph seemed to have an idea, as she walked assuredly, and he was just following her.

"Yep, of course I know where we are going. We are headed to Peihua." Pie who-ah? "There are rumors of rebel members hiding in Peihua village; it's just a bit to the east, a few miles north of Chameleon Bay. There's a water tribe outpost nearby, so we might even run into some old friends." Wait, Chameleon Bay?

... They were in for quite the walk.

"How long until we get there?" She thought it over, seemingly adding things up in her head before shrugging.

"Maybe a day or two." Oh, man... should have gotten some ostrich horses. His hand raised and smacked him in the face. "Hey, it's not that bad. At least I know where I'm going."

He smirked at her. "You bring a map or something?" As he expected, he was met with a smack.

"Ha ha, very funny."

* * *

"**U**gh. I am taking a break. If I have to take one more step I'm going to scream." And with that said, Zuko fell over onto the ground, staring up at the tree tops. It was almost nightfall, so Toph was sure Peihua was nearby. But the Princess decided to be whiny all of a sudden and fall over. And they just took a break too, like ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago!

Well whatever.

"It's close, I think." She meandered around, finding a patch of ground farthest away from the trees and placed her hand in the grass. "... or not."

"We aren't lost right?"

"No," she said, standing up. "We're close, just not as close as I first thought. The vibrations from any town are quite a ways away." Now she was wandering around, gathering fallen branches and twigs. "It'd take us well into the night to get there, from what I can guess. We may as well stop and camp out."

That was comforting. Maybe Peihua wasn't even this direction and they were ending up somewhere entirely different. Hm, then again, they weren't really going anywhere specific, Peihua was just closest, so maybe it wasn't that bad of a deal. It wasn't like the Fire Nation was still after their necks. Thank the gods. And they weren't in a hurry to chase down the Avatar either; also thankfully.

If he'd learned anything about Aang over the last few years of the War, it was that he was about as easy to catch as the wind was. ... well, it wasn't really the catching that was hard, it was the holding onto him.

"Light it, Fireball." He did as she asked, tossing a light wisp of flame under the pile of branches she'd made. They lit, slowly, but they still lit, and she continued gathering fodder. After a few moments of resting, Zuko got up and helped. Soon enough, the fire was nice and cheery, and the two sat in front of it, munching on dried jerky.

"So um," Zuko started, "can I ask you something personal?" One of her eyebrows quirked upward. Did he really have to keep asking all the time? She wasn't going to bite his head off or anything.

"Quit asking if you can ask me something, I never mind, honest."

"Er. Well I was just..." Okay Zuko, stop manishly articulating, it just gives her tease fodder. "What's it like, being blind?" That one definitely caught her off guard. Not many people were really interested in knowing what it was like for her. Half the time, it was as if no one even remembered she _was_ blind to begin with. Sure she could 'see', it just wasn't the same.

She was silent for a long time, reclining on one of the bags of spare clothes and food they'd brought along. It was a difficult thing to explain, really, so she tried showing him instead. The best way of learning about something was to experience it, right? Standing up, she took his hand, pulling his headband down so it covered both his eyes. "If you can still see, close your eyes and stay here." Walking away a few feet, to a tree, she sat down at the base of it. "Now, what do you hear?"

"Uh... can I get this wrong?"

"Just listen to everything around you. Then tell me what you hear, and where it's coming from." He went quiet, listening. The rustling of leaves, but that sound had no real definite direction. Crickets, that had no definite direction either; he focused on the sound of chirping for a few moments. There was one really close to him, somewhere to his left. "The wind in the trees. Crickets everywhere, but there's one closer to me, somewhere to the left."

Heh, what do you know, he was capable of figuring it out. He wasn't an Earthbender, so she couldn't really teach him what seismic sense was like. "Now, come here. You figured all that out, now figure out where I am." It took him a few moments, but he did find out generally where she was. He walked that way, but he was just a tiny bit off to the right. "Ah, no, come on. You're not stupid, Zuko."

He stopped the moment she started talking again, listening to her voice; now that he was a bit closer to her, he knew he was off, and changed trajectory a bit. A few moments later, his boot kicked her leg, which he was not expecting and thus the impact caused him to fall over with a yelp.

"Heh, see? ... well, figuratively speaking of course. You can fix your headband now." He did so, sliding it back up and fixing his hair around it so it didn't look terribly messy. She was smirking a little. "So, what was it like?"

That was a hard one to answer, something he had to stop and think about for a few moments. Was there a right or wrong answer? Eventually, he let out a breath. "It was... kind of like life. Never really knowing where you're going, but still having enough faith to keep walking on a path that always changes." And for some reason, she laughed at him.

"Kind of a deeper answer than I was looking for, but yes. Exactly. In the end, everyone is blind."

"What makes you say that?" She stood up, and headed back to the fire, Zuko following.

"I find it funny how we put sand in hourglasses, because time is just like sand; always shifting around. You and I for instance, may be going to Peihua today, but tomorrow we may run into some odd traveler that tells us the rebellion moved to Kaijin and change direction. No one really knows for sure where they're going; just because they see it doesn't mean they understand it."

She paused for a moment, raising an earth tent and flopping into it, leaving him with lots of different thoughts; she had a point though. Six years ago, if you told him he would end up friends with the Avatar, whom he'd been sent to track down, he would have laughed at you. Either that or called you all sorts of names; it was in that moment he realized exactly how far everyone had come, not just himself. Even Toph had changed a little over the years. Feh; something about growing up.

"The only thing anyone can know for certain about the future is that it's always changing. That's why I say everyone is blind."

* * *

**M**orning came quickly, or so it seemed. After their various conversations that night, Zuko found it difficult to fall asleep, and so did she. "Five more minutes." His eyes rolled at her response to him shaking her awake. Apparently, Toph was not a morning person at all. Then again, they'd both stayed up almost halfway through the night, talking. About nothing and everything.

"Come on, Toph, it'd be best if we got there while the sun's still up and people are like, awake."

Her hand raised, waving at him in an exhaustedly dismissive way. "You go, I'm tired."

"... I haven't the foggiest idea even where we are, let alone where Peihua is!"

"Fine, fine, I'm up." She sat up, stretching out and yawning. "Someone needs me, eh?" A slight grin crossed her features before she scurried over to a corner of her little earth tent, picking out a couple fruits, tossing him one. He barely caught it. "We'll leave in a few minutes, I gotta wake up. ... I smell water."

Really? He didn't even hear it. She stood up, toddling off through the trees. Zuko decided to stay at camp, listening for any yells or Earthbending sounds. Ah heck, what assassin in their right mind strikes at dawn? ... wait, actually, it might be a smart thing doing that, because then they wouldn't even expect - oh forget it.

She came back a few minutes later, dry. Right; healthy coating of earth. "Come on Princess, we got a river to catch."

"Say what?"

"Oh don't worry, I hate water, we'll just be following it south. Went a bit too far north," she explained, gathering various things and slinging her bag over her shoulder. She'd better not get them lost again; if there was anything about traveling he didn't miss it was sleeping on the ground.

That was probably just his inner Prince talking. What would his nation think, the freaking Fire Lord sleeping on the ground, ha. Good thing he wasn't the Fire Lord at the moment. Man that'd kill his reputation faster than a flaming arrow to the heart killed an anteloose.

Everything back in their bags and the fire properly killed, the two headed toward the river Zuko hadn't even heard, and followed it south. He figured out why he didn't hear it pretty quick; it was barely even there. It was less a river and more a stream, which she said was how she knew they were too far north, and that the river got wider the closer to the bay it got.

Only about an hour or two following the river and it did indeed get wider, dropping off a few cliffs here and there. It was certainly pretty scenery, he had to admit that much. There weren't many waterfalls in the Fire Nation, it was mostly lava floes and volcanoes. Once they reached a particularly large waterfall, he could see the buildings of a town through the trees.

"Is it mostly brown, and purple instead of green?"

"Yep."

"That's the one we want then." She grinned and started heading toward a section of waterfall she could get down from. "See I told you we weren't lost, it was just an extended detour."

Extended detour his butt, they'd been lost and just got lucky. She slid down the side of the waterfall, still following the river, Zuko close behind. The two headed into town, Toph seemingly more cheerful than usual (which was just plain creepy) and Zuko staring at her in puzzlement. Thankfully, she'd decided to stick to his right side, so he could actually see her. Not that he didn't trust anyone, but well he didn't trust anyone.

"I say we find a place to stay, and then explore. So, point me in the right direction."

Uh... good question. It was hard to tell; Earth Kingdom architecture confused the crap out of him, even more so when it was the wrong freaking color, but after a few moments of scratching his head, he did finally find a building that looked like an inn, and pointed.

She felt the movement, and flounced off that way with a cheerful, "Go on, wander around, blend in, I'll be back."

He did himself a favor and headed for the fountain in the middle of the plaza, flopping down. It was only a few moments of silence before a voice that sounded familiar broke through his thoughts.

"You look terribly bored. Either that or out of place, I cannot decide which." His head snapped up, and there was someone he thought he knew sitting next to him in lotus pos - wait, he wasn't even touching the ground at all. Yep, he knew this one; his hair gave it away.

Zuko had always intended to talk to him, but it was hard getting him to stay still for some reason. Catching this guy was like catching the wind; it didn't work very well. "Jiva?"

"Sh, don't tell the General," the man stated, blowing his hair out of his face; it failed, however, and fell right back in his face. Jiva was also known as Skunk, because his hair was black with white streaks.

Zuko still had no idea why his hair was partially white; he was only nineteen. It was probably just some new fashion trend Zuko had been too busy with lordly duties to catch onto.

"What are you doing here?"

"Governor Lao sent me." Toph's dad; yeesh, now Zuko understood the irritation Toph frequently had with her parents. They really didn't trust her. Still, it was nice Lao cared enough about them - er, well her - to do that. Against her wishes, yes, but it was somewhat nice to know someone had their back if something went wrong. "Don't worry though, I'll just... be around. I've always wanted to explore outside of Ba Sing Se anyway."

He couldn't stand it anymore, leaning over and pointing at the empty space between Jiva and the ground. "... are you floating?" There wasn't anything wrong with floating, it just didn't happen very often, making Zuko somewhat curious.

"Shush. No one needs to know that." Zuko had only seen one other person do that before. That one other person was Aang. Come to think, he'd never seen Jiva Earthbend either. Having met Kyeong, who wasn't an Earthbender (well, wasn't a bender at all), he just somewhat assumed Jiva wasn't a bender either.

"Wait, you're not an Earthbender are you?"

"Nope," his company replied with a slight grin; it was even creepier than Toph's grin because the man never opened his eyes. His hand smoothed his hair back for a second, but it was enough for Zuko to catch sight of the blue arrow, barely peeking out from under his hairline. "My mother's side of the family. Great grandmother Ran came from the western temple."

"Uh..." And here Zuko was assuming the Air Nomads had all died out. Hm, Aang would be ecstatic to hear that, knowing there was the chance the Air Nomads could be repopulated through the Air Nomad gene passing down through generations recessively. Still, Aang recreating the Nomads single-handedly seemed... ah, odd.

Then again, if he and Katara had enough babies, they'd spread his genes all over the place.

"Welp, the General comes, so I gotta go before she screeches at me. Later." Zuko's gaze went toward the inn for but a split second, but it was enough time for Jiva to completely disappear once he looked back. Air Nomads, really.

Sighing, he stood up and met Toph halfway. She was counting coins. "Leelee, how much money did you bring?" Leelee? Aw great. Another nickname to add to the pool of current nickname selections.

"Couple copper pieces, why?"

"Aw shoot. We've only got enough for one night and then we're totally broke."

"Awesome. More sleeping in the woods then? ... I can take a bath first right?"

"No, stupid," she growled, swatting at his arm. "We can't stay in the forest. Rebel activity probably goes up at night, and a strange couple like us slinking around town at night of all things would be asking for trouble." He opened his mouth to ask her what they could possibly do in this situation, when she grabbed his wrist and dragged him off somewhere.

"I have a plan." Oh boy. But at least someone had a plan; still, he had a feeling he was going to regret this.

* * *

"**S**hould have taken the gold, should have taken the gold, should have _taken. The gold._ I can't believe you got me into this!" No, Zuko was not happy. Once again, he found himself in an apron. Because he had a job again. A temporary job, she said, just to be sure they could afford living expenses and then once they saved up enough, they'd split and hit the next town.

And he swore if she shoved him in another apron at the next town he was going to wring her neck.

"Come on, it's not so bad. Who will seriously be expecting to find the Fire Lord and the Dai Li Commander working at a low class restaurant in Peihua, really. A Water Tribe restaurant even. It's the perfect cover." She looked markedly better than he did in an apron, but what did she care? She couldn't see it anyway.

"And remind me again why I have to be here?"

"I pull my own weight, you will too. Besides, it keeps us in shape. Can't have you loafing around at the inn and getting fat or anything."

"I don't get fat!"

"You sit on your butt long enough, I bet you would."

"I'll have you know I have a very high metabolism." Either that or it'd just been adrenaline all those years. His uncle always did say age slowed the metabolism down, meaning give it about five or six more years and maybe he really could get fat... that was a depressing thought.

"Just go do your job like a good low-class citizen and stop your griping."

A small growl escaped him, against his better judgment, before he wandered out of the employee room; he was a waiter, and she would be washing dishes all day. What a deal. Send the one that didn't want to talk to people to go deal with people, yeah. Then again, she had a point; '_if I go out there, they'll figure out I can see somehow, and there goes my non-bender water tribe cover_'. Girls were crazy.

All because the manager lady reminded Toph of Katara. Well, he had to admit, she kind of did. Still, of all the places to work. It could be worse; he wasn't sure how it could be worse, but it could. Toph said working in a place like this one might be one of the smartest moves they could make; something about Water Tribe people being nicer in the long run, and true enough, Zuko found himself liking the others that worked there.

But the odd smiles they shot his direction sometimes really gave him the willies.

* * *

"**W**hat's your name again?" So close; she almost said Toph, but her brain caught up with her mouth just in time.

"Rakaia."

"That's a pretty name," the woman replied. Toph could hear the smile in her tone. "I'm Hakaea, from the Southern Water tribe." Oh goodie, someone that would know Katara. Ironic, how similar her name was to the one Toph had chosen.

Toph just nodded, feeling around for the next plate in the pile and dunking it in the soapy sink. '_Think Katara, think Katara,_' she mentally repeated. She knew Hakaea was the manager's daughter, and figured it'd be a bad idea to be spunky around this delicate little lotus. After all, she could probably easily get herself and Zuko fired, and they'd just started not five minutes ago. Now if she turned out totally different, then she'd have Toph's respect; she could relate.

"Nice to meet you. I come from the South too. I don't remember it though." She'd only been to the South Pole once, and she swore she was never going back. She loved Suki and Sokka and all, but their lazy bums (... well, one of them was a lazy bum at least) could come to her instead of the other way around, screw that. "My parents came to the Earth Kingdom during the war." Smooth.

Hakaea tilted her head before dunking some more dishes into her own bubbly wonder. "Where did they go?"

"Ga... ipan." Now why did she say that.

"I heard Gaipan was flooded, I hope they're alright."

"Oh yeah yeah," Toph grumbled, trying to think of a good - well they were in Ba Sing Se now, may as well go with that. "They evacuated in time and we went to Ba Sing Se. That's where I met Lee," not really, "hiding from the Fire Nation," close enough, "but after the war ended, we decided to travel around."

Yea pretty much. At this, Hakaea let out a girly giggle. Oh great; she'd only seen him for maybe three seconds, but Toph could tell; Hakaea had a crush on him. Wonderful. What was it with Water Tribe girls and developing crushes on Earth Kingdom guys? Katara had the same problem.

"What?" She figured she may as well get it over with.

"He's really cute." Called it! "Traveling would be that much less scary with him around."

Oh sure yea. "I suppose, if you like whiny, pessimistic, egotistical jerk faces." Alright so he wasn't that bad, but she definitely didn't need to know that.

"He can't be that bad. You don't seem like the type that'd put up with that." Oh now she was observant. So it would seem the daughter was more like Katara than the manager mother was. Though both were really nice people; maybe it ran in the tribe. Well no never mind, there were oddballs like Hama.

"Only from him," she replied, not even realizing the verity of the statement until she'd already said it. Imagine that, there were a lot of things she didn't deal with from other people that suddenly seemed so trivial when it was him. Well, that was what best friends were for, right? Putting up with you at your best, and at your worst.

"He must mean a lot to you. You're very lucky." Ah great. Now her co-dish-washer was under the impression she and Zuko were together together. It was a strange concept for her, thinking about herself and Zuko like that (not to say she was against it, it was just... weird). But the plus side to this was, it meant Hakaea knew the Fire Lord was off limits. ... even if he wasn't her boyfriend. They would definitely get along much better now.

Sometimes, misunderstandings were the greatest of tools.

* * *

**N**o one could call this particular night quiet. On the contrary, it was actually rather loud. Toph didn't favor thunderstorms, but she wasn't really scared of them either. Not really. As long as it didn't hit the ground at least.

And it'd figure that it would; from her place off to the side of the room, she could feel a bolt hit a tree or something. With a loud yelp, she jumped up and scrambled into bed with Zuko, clinging to his back.

"... Toph, what are you doing?"

"Nothing!"

He sighed, shifting around to face her somewhat. "Go to sleep already."

"I'm trying, and if you haven't noticed, it's not exactly the quietest night there ever was." Thunderstorms; the bane of her existence.

"I don't hear anything."

"That's because you've still got one foot in lala land."

"Maybe you should try that." Oh, very useful Zuko, that was already the plan but the problem was it wasn't working! She started to say something back, but noticed he'd already fallen back asleep. Someone wasn't accustomed to manual labor.

It'd been a few days since their arrival in Peihua; now that Hakaea was under the wrong impression, they were getting along much better, and it'd seem even Zuko was fitting in well enough. Neither had heard anything about the rebellion, but Toph could be patient. When she wanted to, anyway.

Zuko was perfectly fine with the idea of just asking questions, but she knew better. A couple of strange new people coming to town and then asking awkward questions? Oh yeah; asking for trouble. But they couldn't really afford to stay here forever either. He did have to go back to the Fire Nation eventually (that sick thing would only work for a short period) and she had to go back to Ba Sing Se (you know, before Meng destroyed everything she'd worked so hard to build).

Finally the lightning calmed down, leaving only a calm shower in its wake. With a sigh, she finally let go of Zuko's arm and slid out of bed, quietly making her way to the window. Rain was a calming sound; she just didn't like thunder.

For maybe five minutes, she let herself get lost in the sound of the rain, calming down. As she stood to go back to the corner she'd chosen to sleep in (though Zuko had insisted on filling said corner full of pillows), a sound distracted her. She stopped, listening for it. It sounded like something landing in a tree, something wearing... boots. That was definitely not a parrot-monkey!

Quickly she shot across the room, hopping up and down on Zuko's bed. "Zuko! Zuko get up!"

"Toph, the lightning is not going to -" he grumbled, curling himself into a ball under the blankets.

"No you sleepy head, I heard something."

"... yea? It's the rain. Calm down already and go to sleep."

Well he was no help whatsoever. Growling, she gave him a nasty look (she didn't expect him to see it, it just made her feel better) before she slid back off the mattress and out the door. If he wasn't going to help, then she'd do it herself. Within moments she was soaking wet, the rain water causing her neck length hair to stick to her skin. That was uncomfortable (at least it didn't come to her waist anymore), but she was too busy trying to find their guest of sorts.

She made it about an inch out the door before her arm was suddenly pinned against the door frame, held in place with a dagger that had caught her sleeve. Oh great, assassin was a good shot. After a few seconds of struggling with it in an attempt to get free, she finally got irritated enough to just rip her sleeve and dart out into the rain.

But by the time she'd gotten free from the dagger, whoever it was had already gone. She stood there in the rain for a few heartbeats, listening to the water coat the earth, but there wasn't a single thing out of place anymore. Someone should have written that in the guide to traveling with royalty; take the royalty with assassins after his head out of his little palace and the assassins will follow.

God she was stupid, she thought, kicking the door; she regretted it mere seconds afterward as pain shot up her leg. She should have seen this one coming; she'd known about the assassin for weeks now (question; was the assassin really still an assassin if they'd repeatedly failed in assassinating?). But nope, she'd gotten so lost in her simple little life she'd completely forgotten he was the Fire Lord and she was... well no one really important in the end. But what assassin would actually run away? Unless said assassin wasn't expecting someone else to be there.

Tugging the dagger out of the door frame (which was much harder than she expected and sent her crashing into the other side of the frame once it released), she studied it for a few seconds before stuffing it under her pillows and laying down. The problem was, her head was full of various thought processes, which only served to frustrate her in the end because they were all dead ends.

So much for sleep.

* * *

**Notes;** "Ya Tvoya Ne Pervaya" by t.A.T.u, meaning "I Am Not Your First" (but the song I have in mind is the extended English version, Show Me Love.)

And sorry for the sudden slowness, internet got cut off as I expected it would, but the good news is, I had a lot of free time. ... I accidentally tore my outlines all to hell in the process, because my ditzy self decided it'd be a great idea to type out these outlines and post them on the internet instead of saving them on the flash drive. Oh yeah, smart one. But in the end I just decided it didn't matter.

... funny how much this thing has deviated from my original idea over the course of only four chapters.

Ah, and later I intend to introduce "M O N O C H R O M E", which is another ToKo, done Cinderella style. Booyah 3 xD Writing the first part now. Got two more chapters of this done as well, er... actually three or four, but I don't want to overload ya. =P


	5. Do You Call My Name

Part Four  
_Do You Call My Name_

_Previously on Like the Sun:_  
"It is never wise to walk to your enemy without knowing who your enemy is."  
"What's it like, being blind?"  
"No you sleepy head, I heard something."

**A**t least she did finally fall asleep after the thunderstorm that night. The problem was, now Zuko couldn't seem to get her awake again. He was already dressed and ready to go to work, his hair even in the loose ponytail that seemed to be in style in Peihua, but she was still enveloped in a mess of pillows. She looked exhausted, and he almost had half a mind to go without her and tell the manager she'd caught a cold from the thunderstorm or something.

"Come on, Toph," he calmly pleaded, poking her side. "We've still got work today." She grumbled something intelligible and turned over, burying her head under a fluffy pillow. This was getting him nowhere; if he thought she was difficult to wake up when they were sleeping in the mountains, this was positively horrendous.

He'd been trying to wake her up for the last ten minutes and clearly wasn't getting anywhere. A thought crossed his mind then, something of a plan. It was pure unadulterated evil, but what other choice did he have? Calm poking and shaking wasn't working; time to step up his game. A sigh escaped him, and he fished her out of the pillows, tugging her up into his arms. She just curled into him.

Yep, she was definitely gone.

"You're not going to like this," he muttered; he had a feeling he was going to regret it too. "But hopefully you'll thank me in a few hours." And with that off his chest, he toddled out of their room, toward the lobby, but took a right between the main building and its little spin-offs. He stopped at the edge of the clear pool, a hot springs without the hot. It almost looked like a square pond, lined with rocks, but he knew it was deep enough.

_On the count of three; one… two… three!_ And he tossed her small frame into the water. She let out a shriek loud enough to wake the dead. It was almost funny, watching her flail around in the water like that, but then she sank and didn't come back up. He waited… and waited… "Uh… T-Toph?" Nothing came in response. "Toph!"

Panic started to overtake him, and he knelt down, searching for any sign of her. He thought about hopping in and looking for her under the water, but she popped up right in front of him, spewing water into his face. He spluttered a few times, and her hand snagged his shirt collar, pulling him in with her.

That… was not cool. Now they _both_ needed to change. He floated up to the surface, his eyes peeking up over the water. She looked horribly irritated. "You jerk, what was that for?"

"What? You wouldn't wake up, I had to do _something_ or we'll be late for work!" She snarled in response; apparently she didn't just _look_ irritated.

"We don't **have** work today! I'm going to kill you!" Oh. Really? But before he could ask, she'd tackled him underwater. Their game of underwater tag didn't last very long, mostly because she couldn't see in water, and eventually she clung to his back and they both surfaced. She let go, shaking her hair out.

"Jerk."

"Yes, we established this." He had to laugh at her as she sent a torrent of water his way, sending one of his own toward her in response. They continued this way for a while, until a coughing sound interrupted them. Both stopped pelting the other with splashes of water, turning toward the sound. It was Hakaea.

"Sorry to interrupt your moment, but I've got nothing to do today, so I figured I'd stay with you two for a while." She smiled and sat down, letting her feet fall into the water.

"There's something you're not telling," Toph said in a sing-song voice. Hakaea just laughed.

"I ran into someone in town that said he knew you guys, so I brought him along." She scooted toward the side a bit, her hands releasing the ground beneath her to twist together in her lap. And soon, beside her sat Jiva. Zuko had to wonder what he was doing there, after having successfully outmaneuvered his General for so long.

But, Zuko supposed being an Airbender certainly helped with that evasion plan.

"What in the name of Ba Sing Se are _you_ doing here?" Toph demanded, climbing out of the water. Jiva laughed, a light and airy sound that gave more than enough hints to his nature, raising his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Calm down, _Rakaia_ love, I was just in town running a few errands and I met Hakaea. She told me about you two, so I figured since I was here, I'd come visit." Uh huh. Toph wasn't buying it in the least. Even though Zuko was quite certain she would wish to say _something_ on the matter, she kept her counsel to herself, settling on an unnerving glare instead, twisting her shirt in her hands to get the water loose from it.

"We should talk later, however." For the first time since Zuko had met him, Jiva looked serious. One of his eyes narrowed instinctively; that tended not to bode well, but since Hakaea was present, he too chose not to say anything on the matter.

"I say we should split up," Hakaea stated cheerfully, interrupting his thoughts. "You two," and here she pointed at Zuko and Jiva, "should go do whatever guys do, and Rakaia and I will go do girl things."

"Fine by me. … as long as I don't end up in a pool of extremely cold water again," Toph said vehemently, her arm raising threateningly. Zuko couldn't help the slight cringe, and she punched his arm twice. "Two for flinching."

* * *

**T**he sky was still clouded, and yet though this and several other things should have easily forced her to think about that night's events, she found it difficult to focus on it. Apparently, her brain had had enough of picking an assassination attempt apart, no matter how weird it was, and just wanted to enjoy doing… whatever she was doing with Hakaea.

"Did you have somewhere in particular in mind?" Toph asked, wondering where they were going. Hakaea giggled and nodded, before remembering the shorter girl was blind.

"Actually, I wanted to bring you to my house," she said, a smile in her tone. "My mother is home, and I thought we could make some things for the restaurant's shop." The restaurant her mother ran, and the place she, Toph and Zuko worked, was a traditional Water Tribe restaurant called the Silver River. It had a small additional store, in which the two sold hand-made Water Tribe artifacts, such as betrothal necklaces, beaded bracelets, and clothing similar to what Sokka and Katara wore (or so she heard).

But making some of those? That would turn out… disastrous.

"The necklace you wear…" Hakaea started, and Toph's hand raised to her neck. Yeesh, she got this pretending-to-be Katara gig down perfect, even the instinctive necklace fiddling.

"Oh, Lee made it," she explained. Yep, perfect, blame it on the Earth Kingdom guy that didn't _have_ to know the Water customs perfectly. Toph sure as heck didn't. She did however regret this answer, as Hakaea responded with a very loud girlish squeal.

"Wow! How long?"

"How long what?"

"Oh silly, how long have you two been betrothed?" Oh, yeah that _was_ what these things were for, eh? Great, first she lets the girl think they're dating, and then she makes it worse with a betrothal upgrade. Zuko was going to _kill_ her. … well, not if he never found out…

Alright, what would be a proper response to this? "Uh… well not very long… just… a week?" Oh crap that would mean -

"Aw, he gave it to you just before you got here. That's so sweet, Kaia." Yep, a sweet bowl of I'm screwed. Her hand reached out and took Hakaea's, pulling the tall girl down to her level.

"Don't tell anyone," she hissed. "He's not um… very open with his feelings see." At least it wasn't really a lie; mostly. He was, just not about stuff like that, as far as she knew. Hakaea smiled, patting her hand.

"Your secret is safe with me." For some reason, she got the feeling it wasn't.

* * *

**Z**uko wasn't happy with the splitting up part, but he figured she'd be fine. It was day, and she was with someone who was very much respected (and _liked_, if you catch the drift) in Peihua, so surely they'd both be fine.

Still, he didn't like the idea very much. He was reminded of his earlier thought on the matter, how an assassin wouldn't strike during the day, but because of that assumption it may be a good idea, and his sanity almost unraveled. He'd lost one person close to him because of this, and he refused to lose another.

Jiva seemed to sense his apprehension, and led him away from the town center. "They'll be fine, don't worry. They're both capable girls." And just how long exactly had he known Hakaea? He sounded like he'd known her for years.

"Still."

"I know. But, if there's anything I know about women for sure, especially the General, it's that you can't keep a dragon in a cage for very long." What was that supposed to mean?

"Huh?" Jiva gave another airy laugh at his confusion.

"The General's a very strong woman. Trying to protect her from everything will only make things worse. Learn from her parents' mistakes, yes?" A point well made. But he was supposed to be the knight in flaming armor and she was supposed to be the - what the hell was he thinking?

"I just…" he paused, sighing. "I just don't want to lose her the same way I lost…" Jiva understood his thoughts anyway, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, but nothing really needed to be said either. "Thanks Jiva."

"It is very difficult, to care about someone like her. But you cannot shield her from everything. Trust in her, and believe that everything will turn out alright."

"… do you um… know about the…?"

Jiva inclined his head slightly. "Yes, I do. I also know that this assassin after you has been in town recently. That is why we must talk later."

"What?"

"Calm down. The General's alright so there's probably nothing to worry about." When the hell was this? And why hadn't she - last night. He vaguely remembered her attempting to wake him up because she'd heard something. Apparently, it wasn't the rain she'd heard either.

He turned on his heel, running back to the inn. "Zu - Lee!" Jiva caught up with a well aimed burst of Airbending, his golden brown eyes showing obvious concern. "What are you doing?" He didn't know. Great Agni, he really didn't know. Nothing else was said, and after almost slamming into the door, he started unlocking it, only to catch sight of… a hole in the frame.

It was the perfect shape of a small blade of some kind. Double edged, made from a tempered steel he knew was only manufactured in the Fire Nation. There were no blood stains that he could tell, which was probably good because if there were, his heart rate would have shot through the roof. And he wasn't even in the building yet.

"Oh dear." So many things ran through his head at the sight of the indentation. How had he slept through that? Under most circumstances, the sound of metal hitting wood should have woken him up faster than a dip in a cold springs would. How had Jiva known? That was a question to pursue.

"How did you know?" The Airbender looked startled for a moment, before he stood and motioned for Zuko to follow. He led him to a tree; there were what looked like claw marks up one side of the trunk, but Jiva's attention was elsewhere, on what seemed to be a piece of cloth.

"This would be from your assassin. It doesn't seem said assassin is a very good one; not that this is surprising." He picked the fabric from the branches, tossing it down to Zuko. It was sun silk, also used exclusively in the Fire Nation; unless Fire Nation merchants had been trading it, in which case he wouldn't have been surprised in the least. Merchants were tricky creatures, always interested in a good bargain, and might easily come to the assumption they could sell sun silk at a higher price in other nations than the already pretty penny they got for it in the Fire Nation.

Whoever this assassin was sure had some serious funding.

"I noticed this on a few other trees around town. The pattern makes it seem as if the assassin was startled by something and fled. I followed the trail, but they ceased using the trees as a means of transportation just outside of town. I would be very wary about believing any of that. Assassins are not stupid, yanno?" He turned back around, calmly this time, and opened the door. From there, he went to turning everything over, looking for the dagger. He found it half buried under the mound of pillows in the corner. And just like he guessed, it was made of red steel.

... wait, if the assassin had enough money to pay for clothes made from sun silk, rip it apart on their way out of town, and leave a red steel dagger behind to boot...

Either it was his sister, or they'd been hired by her. The attempts had started soon after Azula had broken out of her happy place in that mental facility. He'd never pinned Azula for an assassin, but Jiva had said whoever it was, wasn't very good at it. And why would something startle Azula enough that she'd run? To say the least, he was leaning toward it being someone hired by her.

She was clearly still after his neck, it seemed.

But the really confusing part was they'd never been this messy before. When they had first started, there was nothing left of them once they had gone, as if they were never there to begin with. Perhaps his uncle was right; it wasn't just the one, but several, and at least one of them knew what they were doing. That was even more disconcerting than the idea the assassin had faced Toph the night before and he'd slept right through it. It was official; he was losing his touch and becoming a naïve, stupid simpleton.

But not anymore; he would not lose her the same way he'd lost Mai.

* * *

"**N**o dear, be careful or you'll snap the fishing line." Why was she making a necklace out of fishing line? Oh right, because that was apparently what girls did all day, made pretty jewelry to sell to boys wanting to give their girlfriends a pretty gift. That made her wonder, what were the chances of that jewelry being bought for them later? Ah, man. The irony; Toph was totally not cut out for this.

And it all started because Hakaea had told her mother that it was Lee that made her betrothal necklace. So much for secret's safe with me.

So with some more work, she managed to get another bead on the line, feeling around for a second. That one, however, popped out from between her fingers and flew across the room. She let out an exasperated sigh, her hands dropping onto the table. The glass beads made a slight tinkling sound. "I'm never going to get this," she said. Hakaea giggled at her from across the table.

"Sure you will, don't worry so much." No she wouldn't. Beadwork was apparently not her forte. And what would she even use any of this for later? It wasn't like she had any reason to make beaded anythings in her real life. She could hear the Dai Li giggling at her already. Wait no, that was still Hakaea.

"Try this honey," her mother started; her name was Kariya, and she was almost worse than Toph's mother with the... motherness. Kariya took her hand, removing the string from her fingers before putting it back. There was something heavier at the front now. "It's easier if you have a needle at the end. Be careful, it's very sharp."

Toph made an odd expression that made Hakaea laugh again before trying with the needle. The bead slipped right over the needle and tinked into place at the end of the fishing line.

"See? Much easier now, isn't it?" And to think all this was for a betrothal necklace. A much fancier one than the one Katara had, to be sure. This one was to have beaded patterns sewn across the choker. She wasn't sure what pattern it was in, but Hakaea said it was some sort of triangular pattern. Kariya had been nice enough to separate the different colored beads into piles, and tell her which one to use for how many beads and then which pile to switch to.

At least they realized she was blind.

Hey, maybe later she could torture - er... _teach_... Aang how to make one so he could make one of his own for Katara. Kind of late now, since they had already married (like a long time ago), but late was better than never, or so she heard.

"So..." Hakaea began as her mother took a seat again, working on her own line. "How long have you known Jiva?" That was an awkward question. Oh don't tell her Hakaea had a crush on _Jiva_ now too.

"Couple years. Why do you ask?" Hakaea just giggled again. Maybe she was less like Katara than she first thought; Katara didn't giggle that much. Instead, it was Kariya that answered her question.

"Hakaea wants to know if he's seeing anyone." Toph's eyebrow arched upward in confusion. "As in, dating." Oh. See, called it, again!

"Not that I know of." Hakaea squealed, leaning back in her chair. Toph's inner tease kicked in, and she too leaned back, slipping beads onto the needle in the order Kariya had told her to.

"But as far as I know, he doesn't like girls much." She felt the girl's heartbeat drop through the floor. "I'm kidding, I wouldn't really know what he likes and doesn't. We don't really talk about that much." Mostly because he was usually too busy meditating to talk about that sort of thing.

"Hm. Dad would have really liked him, I think." Toph had never met her father, or asked about him either. Both Hakaea and Kariya seemed to sober a bit after the former mentioned her dad.

"Would?" That implied he was gone now. Kariya reached over, taking the needle and placing it on the table before taking her hand, leading her down the hall and to a small room. Toph didn't sense much furniture in the room, just a lone table, and she could smell candles burning.

"What happened?"

"He died during the War, fighting for his nation," Kariya answered. "We keep this room dedicated to him, and all the other lives lost in the war, whether of our nation, this nation, or even the Fire Nation." She paused, entering the room and dusting something off. Toph didn't dare follow her in. It felt wrong. Hakaea came to stand beside her, staying silent.

"There's a rebellion nearby, against the new Fire Lord's reign. They're Ozai supporters, and want to see Zuko's sister on the throne instead, because she's a lot like their father. The rest of us, however, hope that they never get what they want. It is a long hard road to peace; no one said it would be easy."

Kariya stood, coming back to stand in front of her, taking Toph's hand. "But Hakaea and I, we believe that the Avatar Aang and the Fire Lord really can make this world better, and slowly, we can recover. Both will always have our support."

It was nice to know that there were still people in the world that supported both of her friends. Neither mentioned her name, but she was used to being on the backburner. Kariya's mention of the rebellion piqued her interest, however, and she tilted her head.

They were nice enough, so she felt it was alright to just ask. "Do... may sound strange, but do you know where the rebellion is?" Both were silent for a while, before Hakaea answered.

"They're in Ramoth. A few miles east."

Now they were getting somewhere. She didn't say anything in return, only gave them both hugs and darted outside, heading for the inn. Even if Jiva and Zuko weren't there yet, they were sure to be there eventually, right? Only a few moments passed before she was aware of Hakaea following her.

"What? You can come out, I know you're there." Hakaea came to walk beside her, and was quiet for a long time, as if thinking about something. Toph could feel her heartbeat acting somewhat erratic.

"You… your name isn't Rakaia is it?"

"Nope. And I'm not Water Tribe either."

"I knew it!" the girl squealed, placing herself in front of Toph. She was positively riveted. "You're the Earthb -" Toph's hand came up, smacking itself over her mouth before she could get the rest of that sentence out and cause trouble.

"Yes. Lee and I came here looking for the rebellion so we can get an idea of how to tear it apart. But you are not coming." Hakaea's face fell. "Come on, seriously, you've got a family here, you can't really afford -" wait. That had been her once. How hypocritical. Just what she wanted, to be reminded of how much of a fail daughter she was.

"Never mind." Toph let her hand drop and continued on her way. To her relief, both Jiva and Zuko were present, so she entered their room with a big smile on her face. "Guess what boys, I f -" she stopped as Zuko threw something at her feet. It landed on its point, making a metallic shink. The dagger. "Oh boy."

"Yea, oh boy. And just when did you intend to te - oh hi, Hakaea." Hakaea giggled, hopping onto the bed, the mattress almost completely swallowing her.

"It's alright, she already knows."

"Wait, really?"

"Yep!" Hakaea chirped. Maybe more Ty Lee… yeah… at least she wasn't a crazy circus freak that knew chi blocking and was after their necks, that was calming. Not that Ty Lee was that bad anymore. "She must be Toph, and you must be the Avatar."

Toph couldn't resist laughing. "Uh," Zuko started. "Nice try. Zuko." Hakaea was completely confused. "I'm the -!" Toph crossed the space between them quickly, smacking her hand over his mouth.

"Don't say that that loud. Are you _trying_ to start trouble?" Zuko grumbled something indecipherable into her hand, and she let go.

"The Fire Lord," he finished, almost a whisper. Hakaea's eyes grew big and she tried to bow at him, but he just waved his hand. "Please, we're equal at the moment."

"Alright so the rebellion isn't here anymore, they went to Ramoth. So. What's the plan?" No one said anything in response, and Toph growled, placing a hand to her head.

"I'm surrounded by idiots."

* * *

**Notes;** "Do You Call My Name" by Ra. For interest reasons, Ramoth in the Drow language means nightmare. Also the name of the dragon Ramoth in _The Dragonriders of Pern_ by Anne McCaffrey. I love her. Oh also, yes I am aware that was a VERY quick and dirty way of getting the news about the rebellion to our team here, but yea I didn't wanna drag that out too much or it would have started ticking _me_ off and I gotta get these four on the road so they can get - … never mind. :D

I've been trying for the last day and a half to steal someone's internet off a wireless network, even went to McDonald's to jack their WiFi. Yeah. Didn't work. I give. You all will just have to forgive me when dad gets paid. *completely ignores her original outlines and just runs with it* Whatever. Lmfao I think this is god's way of telling me, girl, the first outlines sucked do it again!

Ohh, good song. *listening to her CD collection for the first time in foreversville for lack of YouTube access* We are not alone~! Cause when you cut down to the bone we're really not so different after all~! Breakfast Club. 3

*three days later* I did eventually succeed in stealing someone's internet, hence why I am here updating LOL. Dad just got paid but he wants to explore our options for internets, cause Time Warner be screwing us over mon. … sadly, we're under contract; can't break it unless we have $250 extra dollars. I hate cable companies, I hate cable companies… the other sadly is, dad did get paid, but his bank is withholding his check for a week because he was overdrawn too long. What the bloody 'ell?

And pray for me, I'm trying to get my job at Walgreens back; I be pullin' in $1,500 dollars a month doing my old job, with that I could help take some of the financial load off my dad (might bring his motivation back if he isn't doing it all himself eh?). Quit cause I started losing money last time, my entire paycheck was going into my gas tank cause it was so dang far, and intended to transfer to the Walgreens right down the street but ended up moving to Iowa instead. Blah blah blah, I talk too much. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if it was a lame means of getting rebel movement information to them. xD

I have a strange desire to do a SokkaxAzula... what the hell is wrong with me...


	6. Wherever I May Roam

Part Five  
_Wherever I May Roam_

_Previously on Like the Sun:_  
"What in the name of Ba Sing Se are _you_ doing here?"  
"The pattern makes it seem as if the assassin was startled by something and fled."  
"They're in Ramoth. A few miles east."

**Q**uietly, the assassin made her way to the tent she had been told to come to. The rebels had actually camped outside Ramoth rather than in it, as it was just easier. Why she needed to be present for this, she was not sure; as far as she knew, Azula was simply relaying her plans to Siwang, but she had still requested her presence. Perhaps to make sure she did not interfere. Not that she would anyway.

She knew better than that, and had learned that a long time ago.

"Oh this is terrible," Azula was saying. No one was really listening to her of course, as she got this way sometimes, with the raving. Why she was still so intent on dragging her brother through the mud was beyond everyone, probably even beyond herself. The girl took her place, kneeling beside Azula's chair.

"We need a good means of distracting dear Zuzu," she started, turning around and looking thoughtful, one hand on her chin. This would not turn out well for anyone. However, the assassin did not say anything, knowing it was better just to keep her trap shut. Azula would do whatever Azula wanted to do, and no amount of common sense would make her see reason. She had already tried that.

Gods, how did she get into this mess?

"Ah!" Azula snapped her fingers together, apparently getting a bright idea. This was horrible; Azula was always one that commanded power and respect, and it was just scary to know she was back in power again. "I know! He has quite a few friends, right. He is just the idiot that would run after them. The longer he is away from the capitol the better. Uncle Iroh and Jeong Jeong aren't much of anything against me."

"Haven't you uh, tried that one before?" It was Siwang. She had **never** liked Siwang; he was too much of an egotistical jerk for her. He seemed always looking out for himself, and never seemed to care about much of anything else. He was thus similar, in many respects, to Azula herself. The woman in question grinned and reached up, fiddling with Siwang's shirt in a terribly familiar way. Oh, sick. Sick _sick_ **sick**!

"Oh, dear, we have. Hm, but the annoying little runt Avatar always seemed to get in the way… oh that is right. There **is** no Avatar this time, too busy running around saving the world and spreading his annoying Air Nomad genes everywhere. And if he does show face, we'll just have a wonderful surprise for him."

She had to wonder what wonderful surprise Azula meant. Oh right, the things that exploded. "Siwang, love, would you like to go on a field trip?" Why did she always do things with an unnecessary level of force? It was as if she was not sure what diplomacy was anymore.

Not to say that if they simply asked the Avatar to stand aside, he would. Even she knew better than to assume that. Something about honor and duty, but she had lost those a long time ago. The girl's eyes closed, her head turning down.

The rebellion was intending to distract Zuko. The first one had not worked very well of course; that had been her job at first, as an assassin. Siwang had first thought that perhaps with a little bit of toying with him via an assassin, he would get scared and focus on the assassin instead of his country. Azula was not surprised that it had not worked, and had even said when they had been setting the plan in motion that it would not work.

What they needed was something more powerful, something more important to Zuko than his own life. He was not one to worry about his own well-being like that, not over his nation and its safety. However, if you caught one of his friends, Azula believed he would go barreling after them, leaving the Fire Nation wide open.

Iroh and Jeong Jeong, however, were certainly forces that demanded respect, and they had connections in all the right places. She sighed; why did everything have to be so difficult? Why did everyone find it so necessary to fight over things like this? Was that not what everyone wanted so long ago anyway? As she recalled, everyone had been fighting and praying that the war would end. Some wanted to win it; others just wanted it to stop.

So why was it so horribly difficult for them to accept that it was over?

"See to it that you get close to them somehow," Azula was saying. "They don't know you, so it should be easy. You're a schemer at heart, I'm certain you could find a way of doing this without giving your true intentions away." Siwang was already nodding, his spiky raven hair falling into his face. He was quite the looker, really, but she liked to believe that he had inherited that from his twin, Linhao.

She had always liked Linhao more than Siwang.

"I have the perfect idea in mind, Princess Azula." Oh, yuck, he even called her _princess_. … Oh wait; she _was _a princess, technically. A mentally unstable fallen princess, with far too many violent tendencies for her own good, but a princess nonetheless.

How did she get into this mess?

"Dear, would you care to do me a favor as well?" Of course, she would not, but she nodded anyway. She was already too far into this as it was and now there was no turning back. Azula was right; even if she tried to turn back now, she would only make enemies of both the Fire Lord and the rebellion. She had tried to kill him several times, for crying aloud.

However, she had not been expecting the Earthbender to be there the other night. She still had not told Azula about that, feeling that it was not really any of her business.

"Good. I need you to get a hold of a contact for me in Ba Sing Se. He's crucial to our invasion plans." The assassin had to wonder, just who was this contact? The last she had heard, Azula did not have any friends in Ba Sing Se anymore, having lost many of them after its reclamation. Gods, it was as if she had rewound time in her mind, and was still fourteen, attempting to appease her father's tyrannical power lust.

More than the assassin was afraid of Azula she pitied her.

"Yes, Princess Azula."

* * *

**T**hey could not afford to make any sudden moves, and everyone in their little group knew that. So, rather than immediately running off to Ramoth, the group stayed in Peihua. Zuko wanted to talk to her, tell her not to face the assassin alone, but he knew better. She would merely rebel and insist on him hiding instead, because he was the Fire Lord and he was the one that needed to survive, not her.

He did not like this. He did not like any of it. Part of him wished he could turn back the hands of time and change everything. He should have dealt with all of this a long time ago, but it seemed so trivial to him then, when compared to the hardships his nation was facing. He could not justify being selfish and saving his own neck, thus leaving them to flounder around in uncertainty.

Now he was paying for it. His best friend, the only one he had left, was in a direct line of fire all because he had given up his own safety in return for keeping his nation together. How did one choose between the two? Naturally, he wanted to do right by his people, but he did not want to lose anyone else.

What would his mother say? He paced around, trying to figure it out. "Something like, Zuko, you are who you are, and nothing will change that. … That does not help. What would Uncle say then? The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest of all. … That makes no sense. Okay. Toph? Get off your ass and do something about it, Fireball. Heh, I am trying Toph. I'm trying."

Did he not already do this routine once before? Yeah, and they had been no help then either. Heaving a sigh, he flopped onto the floor of his room with Toph. She was not there, having run off with Hakaea to scrape together enough funding to get them to Ramoth; he needed the time to think anyway. About a lot of different things, but nothing was really coming to mind. He was not sure how to handle the rebellion, or the assassin, or keep Toph safe without having her hate him forever…

What a load of sh - "hey stranger." Zuko let out a yell and fell over, glaring at Jiva. He was dangling happily from the edge of the bed, his features wearing that creepy grin he had. Those stupid Air Nomads, they were always popping up out of nowhere! Even Aang was not that annoying!

"Jiva seriously, warn someone before you just bust their bubble of personal space!" Standing, Zuko dusted himself off, fixing his headband. "And don't you ever open your eyes?"

"Nope," the nomad responded, flipping off the bed and hovering a few centimeters from the dirt floor. "If I just close my eyes and smile, there's nothing wrong with the world anymore."

Zuko let out a grunt, wondering how it could be that easy for him. "Sometimes, things just aren't that simple." Jiva gave a sigh in response, unsure of what to say. Toph was right; making this person feel better was about as easy as making a mantis-fly stop buzzing. He really had to wonder how she did it.

Then again, she could probably teach said mantis-fly how to roll over.

"Have a little faith already. If you cannot believe in yourself, then believe in those around you. We are all in this together, because we believe in you. Why can't you just believe in us?" Bleck, what was it with the nomads and being so dang smart. "I want to teach you something."

"I can't hover." Why was that the first thing that came to mind? Jiva was not stupid; he probably knew that one from the start.

"No weirdo. I want to teach you how to listen to yourself. In the end, the only opinion that really matters is your own." Zuko looked completely confused, and Jiva laughed at it. It was quite the sight, being able to confuse the Fire Lord like that, and his expression was priceless.

"There are many people in the world. You will not meet every single one. You seem to be attempting to do right by every single person in the world, but that will not get you anywhere. You cannot please everyone, after all, and as much as it may sound terrible what I am going to tell you, in the end, it does not matter what they think. When all is said and done, you are their leader. You can think about them all you want, and try doing what they want you to, but in the end the only thing you'll manage to do is completely wear yourself out. Listening to the wrong opinions can even get you in more trouble than not listening at all would. You have been lucky enough this far to have wonderful people willing to offer advice, but not everyone means well."

Zuko knew that one already; plenty of advisers in his council wanted things that would only benefit them and not the nation as a whole. "It is up to you to make decisions for them, to lead them in the right direction, and to do that, you have to make up your own mind. However, you already know your path. Now, you must follow it. For you to follow it, you must see it."

Jiva sat down all the way, actually touching the ground, and raised his hands, bringing them together and resting them in front of him. He made a nodding gesture that suggested Zuko should do the same, so he copied the nomad.

"Energy goes in many directions, you as a Firebender should already know this. Energy flows in, it flows around and it flows out. The energy flowing out is imperative to controlling your Firebending, because the fire energy must go out to be of any use. But there is a use for it that requires keeping it in, and this I will teach you."

If he had to be honest, Zuko was nervous. What could possibly require keeping the fire energy in rather than releasing it? The Firebending techniques he knew all required the energies flowing outward.

"The paths that energy follows within you are called chakra. I am sure you know what they are. These pathways also connect your mind to your spirit, effectively introducing you to your inner world. In other words, who you are on the inside, and they can show you the decisions your spirit has already made without the mental buzzing confusing you. Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a sea of stars."

Breathing in, Zuko closed his eyes, imagining that he was standing in a sea of black, with sparkles of light scattered across the darkness like a dust. Jiva told him to create a pathway of light, and that light had to be blue, one of the most spiritual colors. A swirl of those small lights that man had named stars came together, creating a path.

At the end of the path of blue stars, there was a bright white doorway. Instinctively, Zuko knew he needed to get to the doorway. Jiva's voice told him not to be afraid of the path he walked, because it was a part of him as much as his hand was. Swallowing his apprehension, Zuko followed the blue pathway he had created, stopping just before the white door. He could not see past it, and hesitated.

'_Walk in, Zuko. There is nothing beyond that light that you've never seen before, though you may not remember it consciously,_' Jiva's voice pressed. He thought about turning around, questioning whether he was ready to learn to listen to himself as Jiva had said, but he quickly dampened those thoughts. He trusted Jiva, even if he did not trust what he was seeing, and with another breath, he walked through the light.

* * *

**T**hey were just sixty gold pieces short. Why had Zuko not taken the gold his uncle had insisted he bring? Right, something about drawing attention. Actually, that had been her idea.

With Kariya's help, Toph and Hakaea had calculated exactly how much it would cost them to keep them going on the road to Ramoth, so long as they didn't stop anywhere unexpected, or spend anything they shouldn't. It was times like these that Toph found herself very much missing Sokka. If there was anything the Water Tribe warrior was good at (aside from making himself look stupid) it was planning things like these.

"Where are we supposed to come up with the extra sixty gold?" Hakaea considered her question for a while, before she finally shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I've only got sixteen gold." That would not get them past Kaijin. Oh, this sucked. When she said it sucked she meant a lot. "Maybe we could do something in town to get donations of some kind. I mean, this entire ordeal involves them too, and I know with -"

"We can't do that," Toph interrupted. "They're great people, but Peihua isn't exactly high on the rich town ladder. They need that money to take care of their families. As much as I want to get to Ramoth too, I just can't do that to them." She had a point. Hakaea sighed, sliding down in her chair.

This was getting them nowhere. If only Toph had thought to bum a bunch of gold from her parents, they would not have this issue. Well, she supposed she could go flash her Bei Fong lineage around and see where that got her, but that was bound to attract the wrong kind of attention, and no one needed that.

Zuko was already on edge enough as it was since the assassin had showed and she had not told him. He had completely blown her off, which was all on him; she _had_ tried to tell him. Boys; they never listened.

"Girls," Kariya's voice broke through her thoughts as the woman entered the room, wiping her soapy hands off on a dishtowel. She had taken over their job for a bit, letting the two girls figure out how they were getting to Ramoth. "How goes the planning?"

"We're sixty gold short," Hakaea huffed, tossing a few papers onto the table. "There's no way in heck we're getting past Kaijin."

"Calm down, Kaea. If you four are willing to be patient, I can see about getting you your gold."

"What! No! No you need that for other -"

"Merchants make a lot of money, Hakaea," Kariya calmly explained with a smile in her tone. "I have a good chunk of gold saved up. I was going to wait until you moved out on your own and give it to you then, but I believe this is important enough."

Oh, man, see. Toph sank in her chair, attempting to hide herself behind a bunch of papers as Kariya went back to work. She owed this woman so much it was not even funny. When she got back to Ba Sing Se, Kariya and Hakaea were getting a hefty bonus from an unknown source.

"Well, I suppose that solves the question of where we're getting the money," Hakaea said, sitting up. "But it doesn't really solve the when." Toph thought about that long and hard, not sure of when herself. She wanted to be getting going as soon as possible, but with everything going on, it may have actually been a better idea to go home.

"At the very least, we do need to wait for your mom," Toph said. "We'll just wait until then and once that's out of the way, we'll ask the boys." It was weird referring to them as boys, considering they were both very mature men now. Well she had to make fun of them somehow.

Hakaea nodded, and the two gathered the papers up, stuffing the spare gold they had worked up into various pockets. They would go ahead and tell the boys the plan, and then hang around for a while. There was no hurry; every step needed to be decided carefully, for they were treading on thin ice.

Just one wrong move, and the entire thing could collapse into another war.

* * *

**A**ll that he could sense was the sound of singing. A child's song, sung in repeating variations of la. Around him was nothing but white, and he could not even feel what he was standing on. If this was what his inner world looked like, he really needed to get his head checked.

Well, Jiva kept telling him to walk, so, he did just that. The second he took the first step, the white erupted in a flurry of color, and he found himself standing in an endless field of flowers, surrounded by snowy mountains.

Okay, this was weird.

Turning around, he spotted all kinds of different flowers; some were red, others gold, some blues and purples. The scent was everywhere, almost completely overpowering his senses… it reminded him of his mother, in a strange way. He was not sure how. The singing grew louder, before eventually his gaze fell on a small child, the one that was singing. Zuko could not be sure if it was a girl or a boy. He did not want to startle the kid, so he chose not to make any sudden movements.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the child laughed, turning to face him. '_You cannot scare me,_' they - no it was a girl - she was saying. '_You __**are**__ me, Lord Zuko._ _You came for a reason. Come; sit next to me, please? The flowers are lovely, since you're in a good mood._'

"A good mood?" Just how did she figure he was in a good mood? The last time he checked, he was freaking out about several different things all at once. She giggled again and nodded, kneeling down to play with the flowers. She was not picking them or anything, just petting them, as if they were some adorable pet.

'_Yes. Whether you realize it or not, there is a strong calm in you that overrides the chaos of your mind._' Now this was definitely getting weird. '_Sit!_' Before he had any time to react, he suddenly landed on his rear as if something had pushed him, but she had not moved. Someone was forceful. It reminded him of a certain someone in the real world. Imagine that. Hm, come to think, this girl - Kozu… that was her name - looked a lot like Toph. That was even weirder. Because that meant she was the force that guided him, even in his **head**.

When had that even happened? '_You already know the answer to that._' Indeed he did. He sighed, pulling his legs up so that he was sitting cross-legged. Kozu smiled, turning away from the flowers before her to face him. '_Something is bothering you. You may as well get it over with, Lord Zuko. What is it?'_ She had a point, so he sighed, mentioning the rebellion, and the assassin, but he stopped when it came to telling about his fears regarding Toph.

He was not even sure why it mattered so much. She was his friend, true, but he also knew she could take care of herself. No matter what he said, he knew she would not yield; she was just as stubborn as Azula could be.

'_The rebellion must be stopped. The more you let them linger, the more of a threat they become. Why are you idling? This is no time for piddling around. Admirable desires, wishing to end this without bloodshed, but humans are fickle creatures. We only learn when we hurt. You are backed into a corner, and have no choice; you need to draw your sword, before this becomes worse._'

He knew that. He had known that all along, but it was a terrible idea, sending his nation back to war after they had just come out of one, knowing everything that all four nations had lost. However, Kozu was right. It needed to end before it became even worse, even if it meant upsetting his people.

'_And that other thing you're worried about, the thing you won't tell me. The answer is it matters because she matters. However, you cannot control her. Instead, you must support her, as she supports you._' Kozu stood up, folding her arms behind her back and tilting her head at him.

She did not look quite the age that Toph had been when Zuko had met her; actually, she looked a bit more like Azula's age. It was then that Zuko noticed her eyes; one was like Toph's, and the other was gold like his. She was blind, but only in one eye.

'_Did you know that it rains here, when you are sad? Yesterday, a hurricane tore up all the flowers because you were so afraid of losing her. Don't let it rain anymore, Zuko; I hate the rain, because it means you are sad._'

"Jiva…" he grumbled, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings again. "My spirit is a little girl that looks like Toph."

Jiva turned slightly to face him, having been meditating himself. He had nothing seriously bothering him, but occasionally a trip to his inner world was not that bad. "Really?" he asked. "That's… certainly awkward." Zuko laughed, nodding.

"Somewhat. But for some reason, it's not really surprising either."

* * *

**K**eeping her breath as steady as she could, Toph bent her knees, resting her weight in her thighs. Years of training and making sure she never lost her touch had made her body strong. Raising her arms, she started her drills. It was the motion that mattered, whether the strength required to control the earth itself was behind the movements, so she skipped the actual controlling part.

But no matter how much she concentrated on it, she found it difficult to control her breathing at the same time. Each quick movement she made caused her to breathe outward heavily. Each time she steadied her breathing, it just went erratic the moment she started moving again. That was definitely annoying.

She stopped, hearing the sound of footsteps against wood; someone was nearby. It turned out to be Zuko. He sat down on a rock nearby, staying quiet for a while. Toph arched her eyebrow. Something was bothering him, she could tell that much.

"What is it?"

"Breathe out as you move. You're going to no matter what. So turn it into power." The suggestion caught her a bit off guard, but she went ahead and tried it. She found it much easier to regulate her breathing when she didn't try holding her breath in.

She should have known that.

"I'm losing my touch," she said, a dejected tone in her voice. Zuko stood, walking over to her.

"No you're not. Please, the greatest Earthbender in the world, losing her touch. There is just a lot going on." He sat down in the grass, and she copied him, sitting next to him.

"What is bothering you? You're acting strange." At least she thought he was. Being optimistic was a rare occurrence for him, see. He smiled at her, knowing that she was probably right; he was kind of acting weird.

"Nothing, actually." Yes, that explained his optimism. Just what had Jiva said to him? "You and Hakaea get anywhere with the funding?"

"Oh, right. Kariya intends to fund our trip. We're not actually sure when we're leaving, but I figured we could wait and decide that once we actually get the funding for it."

"We're going to fight them," he said suddenly, startling her. That was definitely odd; the last she checked, Zuko was intent on handling it without fighting. "Ko - I mean, uh. A friend of mine, says that it would be best if we faced it before it became too big of a threat."

"Nip it in the bud?"

"Yea exactly. But um. Just, promise me you won't do anything rash." He sounded almost as if he was pleading with her. That was confusing.

"Uh… I'm a fighter Zuko, what can I say? I can take care of myself you know," she warned. He raised his hands, as if attempting to calm her down before she exploded.

"I know, I know. A lot of people can take care of themselves though, Toph, and look at where most of them are. Six feet underground, because they were still mortal, just like you are." Just where was this going? He was talking weird, about stuff she didn't want to think about.

Yes, one day she'd die, and so would he, but she preferred not to think about any of that. It was better in her opinion to just pretend that was far in the future and live her life as best she could. He could stand to do the same.

"Fireball, no one is going to get the best of me, all right?" She meant it when she said she could take care of herself, because she bloody well could. It would be a snowy day in the Fire Nation before anyone ever got the best of her.

"Just, never mind. It's nothing, really. Forget I said anything." No it was not nothing, she could hear it in his voice, but before she could say anything, he stood, turning away and walking back into the inn. "Good night, Toph."

She wanted to grab his hand, ask him what was really wrong with him, maybe even smack him a couple times (sometimes that helped), but she didn't. Something about his tone threw her into an ocean of unfamiliar, leaving her completely at a loss as to what to do.

What in the hell was _that_?

She lingered there for a few minutes more, listening to the crickets chirping around her, the wind in the trees, completely oblivious to another something in the trees. High above her, Siwang watched the entire exchange. Now he knew what he wanted to know, without even talking to them.

He knew where the weak link in the Fire Lord's chain was. Perhaps a better term for it was the strong link, as all Siwang needed to do was take that link, and the entire chain would fall apart.

* * *

**Notes; **"Wherever I May Roam," Metallica.

Ah Jiva, how I love you and your Buddhist self.

I am so pleased to be able to share one of my oldest and most beloved OCs with you, Jiva, his full name is Jivareth Gautama, inspired by the names of dragons in Anne McCaffrey's epic series, _The Dragonriders of Pern_. McCaffrey is actually my writer role-model, I've wanted to be like her ever since I read the _Acorna_ series, probably around the same time I created Jiva. He was originally created for a Kingdom Hearts role-play as a Nobody, half Indian, half Native American (Lakota), but here he's quarter Air Nomad three-quarter Water Tribe, the northern one.

He has always been a wind manipulator, though because of his Kingdom Hearts roots it's very weird to have him finally falling in love with someone (he has resisted my efforts for several years now, seriously), but I think Hakaea would be good for him. And yes, you do eventually get to know why his hair is partially white, there's a very strong story behind that; it just wouldn't be Jiva if I left that out.

For interest reasons, _jiva_ is also a Sanskrit word for the soul, and he is covered in tattoos, not just his Airbender arrows, but they haven't been mentioned yet as he keeps them all hidden under his clothes. Cept the war stripes under his left eye.

Oh I didn't name Siwang by the way, my buddy Saku did, though she probably didn't realize that until I first mentioned his name. XD


	7. Nothing Else Matters

Part Six  
_Nothing Else Matters_

_Previously on Like the Sun:_  
"Siwang, love, would you like to go on a field trip?"  
"Where are we supposed to come up with the extra sixty gold?"  
"You cannot scare me. You **are** me, Lord Zuko."  
"My spirit is a little girl that looks like Toph."  
All Siwang needed to do was take that link, and the entire chain would fall apart.

**A** smirk had firmly planted itself across Siwang's features. Some might say he was walking in a smug manner, but he liked to think of it less as a smug deal and more one befitting his status. Someday, he would become a leader of the Fire Nation, alongside Princess Azula of course. He had every intention of remaining a follower rather than a leader; at least, until she pissed him off later on down the road, then he may change his mind.

Having successfully determined the Fire Lord's weakness, Siwang intended, whether Azula ordered him to or not, to pull apart the chain that held the Fire Lord together. There was a lot riding on whether Siwang was correct in his assumption or not, but he knew he was. Zuko had not shown that level of concern for anyone else in the small group, and she was thus the closest to him outside the capitol city.

Azula was right; the longer he stayed away from the capitol the better, so it was important that he keep him distracted.

The Fire Lord's first mistake had been leaving the capitol city at all, leaving his uncle, mother and a Fire Nation admiral in charge. Jeong Jeong was nothing, really, and his mother was not a bender. His uncle might prove a bit difficult, but he was getting on in his years. Siwang was not anticipating them to be much of a problem.

On the other hand, if Zuko had remained, he would have ended up a bit lucky toward the end. It would seem luck got the boy everywhere. Irritating.

Where was he as Siwang and his brother struggled to remain alive? Where was he as half the world cried because they were either dead, dying, or had lost someone? Probably on his happy butt, pretending the world was alright.

Well this would show him otherwise. There was nothing alright with this world, nothing at all. Truthfully, Siwang had half a mind to destroy it rather than rule it, but the latter was what Azula wanted, so the latter was what Azula would get.

"Princess Azula," he stated to announce his presence, entering her tent and bowing his respects. She looked up at him over the rim of a glass of wine.

"Siwang dear, red wine?" She held her glass up. "The good stuff from Gaoling."

"Speaking of Gaoling, darling, I have found the Fire Lord's weakness. The Earthbender." Azula's expression was almost enough to make him laugh; almost, for Siwang did not laugh about anything. There was nothing to laugh about. Later, yes, but not now.

"That one I was not expecting. The short one? With the black hair and the creepy mint colored eyes? The blind one?" He answered yes to each of those questions, and she was even more taken aback than she was when he first said it. "_Really_, Zuzu, your tastes have gone completely haywire."

Hm, Siwang couldn't really agree with that one, for once. Personally, he thought she was rather cute; he did love an authoritative woman, hence why he'd taken a liking to Azula of all the women in this world.

"Well, what do you intend to do? Oh, Meng, call the girl in here. The assassin will need to know of our plan as well." Siwang arched his eyebrow; sometimes he had to wonder if she was even in the same time period anymore. The assassin was surely no girl, a woman in her own right. There had been a few times Azula had forgotten her own name, even.

"The group is headed for Ramoth, they merely need to scrape together the funding. I would like permission to intercept them, and take out the link that matters the most to the Fire Lord." Azula's interest was definitely piqued here. She knew what was coming, knowing how Siwang's mind worked. If he did manage to pull it off, well good for him.

"So you intend to kill the little Earthbender? Be warned, Siwang, she is like no enemy you have ever faced before." If she were to be honest, Azula was not certain that he could complete the task; the girl had even given her trouble once or twice, and had no doubt grown stronger over the years. Siwang's biggest weakness was that he was arrogant, and arrogance never really got anyone anywhere.

Siwang only smirked in response. He could handle a little girl of all people. "Oh no, killing girls is not my forte, so to speak. I wish to detain her instead; as you said, the Fire Lord needs a distraction, and if we simply killed her, that would merely serve to incite his anger." She nodded her approval; he had a most brilliant mind.

"You have my word, Princess, the girl will be mine."

* * *

**T**he flowers were a tad bit more colorful this time, as if alight with a flame that did not burn. Kozu was there as he expected, playing games in the field. As soon as he approached, she turned up, smiling.

'_Welcome home, Lord Zuko,_' she greeted, wondering what he was doing there. He wandered around, just taking in the scenery, before having a seat next to Kozu. He watched her playing with the flowers, wondering what she was doing exactly. He did not need to voice the question; she heard it fine enough. His connection to her had grown stronger over the last two days.

'_These are delicate flowers. Each one is a memory, a moment in your timeline of experience. I am their guardian, and you can remember them because I am here._' Did that mean if for some reason he lost his connection with her, that he would forget everything? '_Yes, it does. But do not worry, I have a guardian too. The master of your soul is not me._'

Now that was confusing; that meant there were more little people floating around in his head. Zuko truly had to question his sanity now, as if he were not already doing so. He quirked an eyebrow at Kozu, who only laughed and stood up. He followed suit, standing as well. It was then that he noticed she had gotten taller, and looked a bit older as well.

Another eyebrow arch; she did not answer that one, only giving him a smile, taking his hand and dragging him off in a seemingly arbitrary direction.

He had to wonder where they were going; all he saw was the flower field. If she was taking him somewhere, that generally implied there was somewhere else _to go_. After a few moments of walking through the flowers, which moved as they passed so that they did not accidentally step on them, he caught sight of a building.

It was a windmill, the blades turning slowly regardless of there being no wind. And toward the top of that windmill, there was a person. How big was his soul, seriously? He looked much older than Kozu did, perhaps even as old as his uncle was, white hair swirling around in the wind Zuko did not feel.

'_That is the master. He is your inner leader, and rules your mind. We call him Futo. And beside him,_' it was only when she mentioned the other that he saw there was another next to 'Futo', '_is his guard. He rules your emotions, and we call him Heo. Do you want to meet them?_' Zuko considered this, wondering if there were any unseen side effects to delving this deep into his own soul. He also wondered if Futo ruled his mind, and Heo ruled his heart, what did Kozu rule?

If you went far enough into your soul, could you get stuck? Kozu laughed at him. '_No, it may help you in the end, meeting them. Whether you do now, or later, someday, you must face them, for they are as much a part of you as I am._'

In that case, he may as well just get it over with. Breathing in, he nodded, and she tugged him along toward the windmill's door. Climbing several flights of stairs, the two soon emerged behind Futo and Heo, neither of them turning around. Zuko was not sure what to say to them either, and so for several moments, nothing at all was said. Nothing really needed to be said, he realized, because all four of them understood one another perfectly already.

'_I was not expecting to see you here, Zuko_,' one of them finally said. That was Futo, he could tell somehow.

Heo shrugged, leaning on the windmill's railing. He was tall and muscular, and looked around Zuko's age, if he had to take a gander. His black hair had a slight reddish tint to it, he saw, now that the sunlight (was it really sunlight if it was a figment of his imagination?) hit it. '_He would have come eventually._'

'_Yet so soon? Kozu, perhaps you are moving too fast for him. Do not overwhelm Zuko, understand?_' Kozu nodded in response, sitting down on the platform. There was a slight edge of command in Futo's tone, yet it was buried beneath a softness he recognized but could not pin.

'_It is good to finally meet him however._' Heo turned around, bowing his respects. To Zuko, he looked like a cross between himself and Azula. '_I am Heo, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Zuko_.'

'_Hmph. We have already met, many years ago, even if Zuko does not remember,_' Futo snorted. Zuko found it weird how the other two referred to him as 'Lord', but Futo did not. Perhaps that was a side effect of being his inner leader or whatever.

He still was not sure what that meant.

'_I am Futo. Do you see that there?_' Zuko tilted his head, standing and looking in the direction he was pointing. After a few heartbeats, he shook his head. '_Hm, perhaps Kozu is going too fast for you._' Wondering what he meant, Zuko turned to look at him, and realized immediately what, or who, he was looking at.

Futo was the spitting image of his father, his hair white. As he stared at him in confusion, Zuko heard himself growling, both in this world and the real one.

* * *

"**A**re you sure he's okay?" Hakaea asked for the fifth time since Zuko had growled in his sleep. Jiva shrugged, not looking up from his work. He was sending the Fire Nation a letter, as per Zuko's request, telling them their movements, as well as a copy to Ba Sing Se. Without Toph's knowledge, he also intended to ask the Dai Li Lieutenants for back up just in case anything went wrong. He did not like the ominous feeling he had.

"Most likely, he is merely having a nightmare," he finally said. Hakaea shrugged, turning around on the bed and laying on her back. Toph was being awfully quiet in her opinion, and Hakaea thought maybe his distress was bothering her.

She was paying almost complete attention to his vibrations. Something was definitely off, and she was not sure she wanted to know what that was. His heartbeat was erratic and the more they let him sleep the more desperate his breathing became. That was when she sensed his energies shifting; he was bending in his sleep.

Before either Jiva or Hakaea knew what was happening, Toph had shot across the room, pulling earth out of the floor and sat on Zuko, her hands around his, holding chunks of earth around them. "Zuko! ZUKO WAKE UP!" Her right hand released his long enough to land a loud smack against his cheek, and he jolted awake, nearly knocking her off him as he attempted to bolt upright.

Slowly, he realized where he was and relaxed, wondering why Toph was sitting on his ribs. Then he noticed the earthen shackles around his hands. It was then Toph let out a strangled cry and ran outside, jumping into the pool. The three she had left behind shot up to follow her, wondering what she had bolted off like that for, finding her entirely under the water. She remained like that for a time before surfacing.

"Toph?" The girl did not respond immediately. After a few heartbeats, she shifted around to face their direction, raising her hands, palms facing them. There were burn marks on her hands.

"You were Firebending in your sleep." Zuko could not bring himself to say anything. Hell, he could not even think of anything _to_ say. He felt exactly like he had the last time he had burned someone on accident; ironically, it had been the same person. "What was wrong?" she asked, wading to the rock and pulling herself out of the water.

"I…" he stopped. That would be difficult to explain. "Nothing."

"For the love of… Zuko!" Her hand shot out again, slapping him again, albeit with the back of her hand lest she hurt herself. Jiva, feeling he and Hakaea should not be there, snagged the girl's hand and dragged her back inside. "Just let me _in_! I'm your friend you freaking dunderhead, trust me sometime and tell me what's wrong once in a while would you? People don't just Firebend in their sleep when there's nothing wr -"

She was interrupted as his hand wrapped around her cheek and something was suddenly against her lips, and that was not his hand. Toph had never actually _kissed_ someone before, not… like, lip-locked. Sure she had kissed Suki that one time (she thought she was Sokka, shut up), but that did not really count, as she had kissed her cheek. She just kind of froze, not really sure of what to do at this point. This was completely different, and made her feel like there was something in her stomach trying to get out.

Her brain finally managed to get the message across to her body, and she jerked back, an expression of complete and utter confusion on her face. Reluctantly, Zuko let her go, not really sure what to do either. Idly, she trailed a finger across her lower lip, before turning on her heel and running off, eventually just dropping herself underground and Earthbending a tunnel.

Zuko just watched her, starting to follow until she disappeared under the dusty street. "… FUCK!" What did he do that for? Great, now he probably pissed her off, either that or confused the crap out of her, and likely made things completely and utterly awkward between them. That is, _if_ she ever came back. Smooth one Zuko, really, REALLY smooth. Both hands raised, whacking him in the face a few times before he just sunk to his knees.

Jiva came out, wondering why the argument had ended so quick (Toph did not back down that easily, he knew that from experience), finding only Zuko, curled into a ball in the grass. He almost looked like he was crying, but it was waves of annoyance he sensed. To tell the truth, the Airbender was half tempted to turn around and pretend he had seen nothing at all, but his inner Samaritan changed his mind.

"Do I want to ask?" he started gently, giving Zuko the option of explaining or not. Hakaea slipped out of the door, kneeling just outside it and listening. She, too, was interested in knowing what had happened.

"No," Zuko grumbled into his hands. "I am a stupid, inconsiderate jerk and I deserve to be fed to the wolf-lions."

"You realize this only makes me want to ask, right?" Zuko gave a loud frustrated growl in response. "Okay, just checking, calm down." Slowly, Jiva toddled over to him, and he did not move. Kneeling in front of him, Jiva tugged at his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face and forcing him to sit up. "I'm sure you want to talk about it." It was not a question. It was not really a demand either. It was just what it was, a statement, a statement that Zuko knew to be true.

Why were Airbenders so freaking smart?

"I… kind of kissed her." That explained that. "It did not go very well." That was nice to know. "God I'm stupid," he finished, sulking.

"Come on, she's probably merely startled that is all," Hakaea chimed in. "Just give her some space, but don't run. Let her know that you are there if she wants you to be, but don't smother her either. Things like that just take time that's all." Zuko glanced from her to Jiva and back, observing the affectionate and understanding looks the two were giving one another. Well if they had that much success with one another, maybe they were right.

"You think so?" he asked.

"She will come around, on her own. You certainly should not try pushing the subject," Jiva answered, standing and motioning he should do the same, so he did. Tea sounded like a wonderful idea right now. Girls were all about space or something, so… as weird as it was, he would just kind of lurk.

See, Jiva had the right idea; pick the not so crazy ones. Alas, Zuko was attracted to the fiery snap dragon. What a fate.

* * *

**S**everal miles away, Toph finally stopped moving, emerging from the earth. She was in a forest somewhere, but the Earth Kingdom had a lot of trees, especially out here, so she was not really surprised. Slowly, she was calming down, though her brain was still running a mile a second it would seem.

Heaving a sigh, she flopped onto the ground, trying to figure things out. If he kissed her, did that mean he actually liked her like that? On the other hand, he had done that in the middle of her talking, so maybe he _wasn't_ really interested in her like that and had only fallen back on it as a nicer way of telling her to shut up. But that made no sense either, why would a friend kiss another friend if they were just friends and only saw them as such? That would be almost like kissing your sister, and that was just plain creepy.

Certainly she was not complaining. She was not yet sure how she felt about it, for Toph rarely ever thought that deep (especially after that flop with Sokka), but she had not disliked it either. She simply was not sure what to do now. Should she pretend nothing had happened? Should she perhaps talk to him about it? To make the entire ordeal that much more difficult, she was not even sure if she liked him like that. She did know one thing; if he had done that just to shut her up, he was in serious trouble, and she would thereafter refuse to ever like him that way.

If she could stop herself, anyway.

A slight breeze began to blow, concentrated around her ankles. Jiva created breezes that way when he was hovering, and sure enough, a branch snapped nearby, as if something was floating down from the trees. She raised her head, signaling that she knew he was there.

"Before you ask, I do not want to talk about it," she stated, her tone allowing no backtalk whatsoever. It was silent for a while, the wind still shifting around her feet. "You may as well go away, Jiva." The wind did not shift, in any direction. Why was he just staring at her?

She heard a light cackling a few feet away. Standing, she started to tug on the earth beneath her, creating pressure. Whoever it was landed, and she knew instantly.

"You… are definitely not Jiva."

Her feet slid into position, both hands slamming outward and releasing the pressure beneath the ground. A torrent of earth shot right at Siwang. No one interrupted Toph-time and lived to brag, and she would be more than happy to beat it into his skull.

* * *

**I**t had only been a few minutes since their argument, but Jiva found that Zuko was completely restless. He knew the feeling; the Fire Lord wanted to run after her right this moment, but he knew it was a very bad idea. The General would definitely need space, especially if this was the first hint at all that he had ever given her as to his feelings.

The funny part (or perhaps not so funny) was that Zuko himself was not even entirely sure what his feelings for her were. He had said it was a spur of the moment thing, yet Jiva had a hard time believing that. Since he had kissed her, Jiva believed there was at least some measure of attraction there.

Attraction of some kind, yet it did not necessarily mean that the Fire Lord loved the Dai Li Commander. Personally, Jiva felt the two would be good for one another, if they chose to go that direction. Yet in the end he had no say, now did he?

'_Something does not feel right_,' Avij whispered.

'_The winds are shifting. Something is wrong, Jiva, get up. There is something terribly wrong._' That was Sikyahonah, Jiva's guardian, the master of his mind. Jiva stopped writing for a moment, observing his surroundings. Beside him, Hakaea had fallen asleep, and Zuko was still somewhere outside, pacing around and talking to himself.

Some of the things he said were amusing.

Shifting up, Jiva crossed to the doorway, walking outside. The wind was unnaturally still, as if the hand of some god had stopped its motion entirely, leaving it stagnant. That was not normal, and Jiva recognized the phenomena. Indeed, there was something wrong.

"Zuko," he stated, turning to the Fire Lord. Zuko stopped pacing, turning to him with a 'what?' expression. "Do you feel that?" He looked confused now, and Jiva just tilted his head. "Which direction is the wind coming from?" Zuko thought about it for a moment, before finally licking his finger and raising it.

"Nowhere," he deduced.

"Indeed. Do you feel that, the thickness?" Zuko knew that feeling as well. The two stared at one another for a moment, before both shot off in the direction Toph had gone.

There was an Airbender nearby.

* * *

"**W**here are you going?"

Instantly, the assassin froze at the sound of Linhao's voice behind her, attempting to sneak out of the rebel camp without being noticed. He knew her too well. That was problematic, for then he likely already knew where she was going, and why. She pondered simply not telling him at all, but believed that he may merely want to hear it directly from her, rather than guessing.

She did owe him that much. After all, she only stayed now because of him, and leaving would be betraying him. She had already done that once before, left without another word, and did not wish to carry that burden again.

"I cannot let him have her."

He shifted around behind her, knowing that was coming. He was chained to this, because his brother was here and his brother was everything to him, but she was not. It was this moment that he knew the most. She had a chance, to leave and never look back, an opportunity that Linhao would never have. He envied her, just a bit yet it was there. The wind ruffled his hair, and he let out a slow sigh.

"You cannot stop him if he so chooses to do so anyway," he started, attempting to get her to realize the danger in facing his brother. She was skilled, no doubt about it, but Siwang was more so. "He will not hesitate to tear you apart should you get in his way."

"I know this," she answered without hesitation. She did know. She knew very well the risks she was taking, but she believed that she owed it to a couple people, mostly just herself.

All these years, she had been floating about in a downward spiral, never knowing where her place really was. Where in this magnificent puzzle that she belonged. No more floating around, waiting for someone to pull her out. It was about damn time she did it herself.

"You know this, yet you still insist on facing my brother?"

"Yes. No matter what happens, I cannot let him have her. No matter which direction the wheel of fate decides to turn, I cannot let him win."

"This has nothing to do with her at all, does it?" His voice was etched with a mixture of sorrow and anger, an interesting combination within him that she had never yet witnessed. It was… painful. "It's about him."

"Don't," she spat, rounding on him, "even be so stupid. This has _nothing_ to do with him at all. It is about her, keeping her out of Siwang's creepy sadistic little claws. I hate him. I hate her too, but to a lesser extent, and therein lies my answer. I cannot stand by and let this happen, Lin. I just can't. Not when I know I can stop it."

"There is something you are not telling me."

"She is at a disadvantage against him. She cannot see him, nor can she feel him. The only thing she would have to go on is her hearing, and he knows better than to remain on the ground and make enough noise for her to pinpoint him. Siwang is not stupid. Neither is she, but he has a serious advantage against her, and he knows how to use it. No matter what she does, she _will lose,_ just as she lost to the Avatar."

She knew that story, always had. It was a particularly interesting tale among the troops, telling the story of how the blind Earthbender lost a duel against the Avatar with little effort once upon a time. No one saw the hidden meaning in it, her weakness. But she did, and so did Siwang.

"Why take this risk for someone who does not even know you?" The assassin let out a sigh, and shook her head.

"She does know me. And she is the only one that has ever understood me. I cannot leave her to your psychotic brother." The two fell silent for a while, standing and staring at one another. There was so much more both of them wanted to say, yet both were well aware that at this moment, it did not matter in the least.

None of it mattered at all.

"Just so you know," he started quietly, "you are being completely and entirely stupid." She only smiled.

Standing up on her toes, she placed a kiss on his cheek before reeling around, shooting off through the trees. He thought about following her, knowing that she too was at a disadvantage against his brother, but decided that in the end, it did not matter.

Even if he did save her from Siwang, he could never save her from Azula, who would most likely have her beheaded for attacking a Lieutenant. It was either her, or his brother, and his brother needed him the most. She, on the other hand, had never needed him, it would seem, always doing whatever she felt she had to. He liked that, actually, a woman that was not afraid to take action, no matter where it landed her. She was someone who did not need him as he needed her.

Once again, he found himself saying goodbye to someone he loved.

* * *

**Notes:** "Nothing Else Matters," also Metallica.

Lame lame lame lame lame LAME LAME LAME. Okay. I'm good. No, LAME. Alright now I'm good. FAR shorter than I wanted it but I don't wanna move the plot too far in this one, all the plotty goodness gets tossed into the next one.

Poor poor Linny-lin. If it makes you feel any better Spike-head, I love you at least. Perhaps a little too much… *tempted to intro Siwang and Linhao to Ascension… hears the screaming already*

Zzzz, this is what happens when I drink too much coffee. Sorry to leave ya hangin like that, but uh. … well yea okay, I won't lie, I enjoy it. And yes, Siwang is the Airbender they're talking about, hence the whole 'serious disadvantage' conversation between Linhao and assassin lady. Yes, she does have a name, yes, I have been avoiding stating it, and yes, you will learn what it is in the next chapter.

No I won't tell you if you guessed it right or not. Shut up. =P


	8. Cold Heritage

Part Seven  
_Cold Heritage_

_Previously on Like the Sun:_  
"You have my word, Princess, the girl will be mine."  
"You were Firebending in your sleep."  
"I… kind of kissed her."  
"You… are definitely not Jiva."  
"I cannot let him have her."

**N**othing made its way through to her as she sped through the trees, weaving around them as quick as she could. There was no time to waste. There would be no room for hesitation, none whatsoever. If she did for even a split second, Siwang would take that opportunity to tear her down, and if she fell, so did Toph. That would mean a failure, and not to sound like Azula, but failure was _not_ an option.

As terrible as it sounded, she needed to truly begin thinking like an assassin, or she would not survive this. She owed it to him, to herself, to everything she had ever believed in, and, she owed it to Linhao to survive. Yes, over time, she had finally learned what it meant to love, finding something that before she had met him she was completely foreign to. Emotion was weak. Back then, it was a weakness, a hindrance, a form of disrespect.

But now, it was a strength.

She was not sure what she would do after this day. Siwang, no doubt, would tell Azula all about her betrayal, meaning she would be unable to return to the rebel forces. She had no desire to do so anyway. She did not belong there, and neither did Linhao, yet he was held down by the chains known as blood relations. What a nuisance. And, there was no way she could join the other side either. He would not be happy with her, and would know what she had done.

This meant she would be alone after this. But that was alright. She had always assumed she would end up that way, even when she had friends and family, people that swore they loved her but never really did. Not the real her, because they never knew the real her. That was her own fault, she knew.

Where was she supposed to go from here? Assist the Fire Lord and his allies from the shadows, or leave everything behind and start again? No, the latter would never work, not because she was unsure of how to go about this, but because she had to lay this to rest before she could find the peace to move on. Yes, loose ends needed to be tied. She needed to watch Azula fail again, watch Siwang drown in his own hatred.

Then, and only then, could she turn her back on everything.

As she began to feel the wind moving around at her feet, she switched to the trees, using them as transportation instead. Likely, she would ruin another shirt, but it was unimportant at the moment. Her arm crossed in front of her, fingers loosely bent, each one holding a knife. Not taking this seriously would be a fatal mistake, thus she was skipping the dilly dallying and going right to the ass kicking. As soon as she caught sight of the two, Siwang smirking and readying a counterattack as Toph aimed a volley of earth at him, she aimed and fired, bursting from the trees and landing beside the Earthbender.

Only two of her knives hit their mark out of the five she had thrown, but it was not important. One of them pinned Siwang's arm to the tree behind him, giving Toph's Earthbending an opening. The earth she had released slammed right into him, yet before he could recover, Mai had already moved behind him, catching him in a chokehold and forcing him to his knees.

Toph, understandably, was completely confused. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, you're supposed to be -"

"Dead?" she finished for her, "yes, I suppose I was. Perhaps not physically. Stop squirming before I slit you from nose to navel." Siwang stopped struggling, giving in oddly easily. He was planning something. She felt the air in front of her become thick, and the next she knew she had slammed into the tree behind them. Siwang scrambled up a tree and temporarily out of her reach.

"Come to join the show?" Siwang sneered, tilting his head to crack his neck a few times. "You seem to be on the wrong side, dear."

Mai only glared in response, spreading her weight out in preparation for another attack. She knew better than to allow him to drag her into a sense of security, for everything with him was false.

"Tell me love," Siwang started, a sadistic tone in his words, "do you know what happens if I… compress the air right there?" She did not answer, and his features twisted into a smirk. "This calls for a demonstration." The air in front of Toph began to swirl around, appearing to grow smaller. "Your Earthbender goes _boom_."

Immediately she launched at Toph, catching her around the waist and shielding her from the resulting explosion. It was not very large, just enough to cause damage if you were in the right range. In a fight like this, every scratch counted. Pieces of branch fell from the tree beside them, wood landing in all directions, but aside from a few flesh wounds, the girls were fine.

Turning around, Mai readied more knives, only to find that Siwang was not where he had once been. He must be up there somewhere, she rationalized, and began to scan the trees and the sky. The earth underneath her shook, and she began to move, only to find that Toph had raised a boulder and launched it behind her. It was in that moment that he went airborne, and Mai shot off a few daggers. A few of them he deflected and sent back at her, forcing her to hop backward to evade them as they slammed into the dirt at her feet.

Looking up, she found herself within an inch of him, and his arm shot out, attempting to snag her around the neck, but she ducked, her leg kicking his shin and knocking him over. Dagger in hand, she attempted to stab his arm, but he rolled out of the way and kicked her in the ribs, sending her into a tree. A slab of Earth managed to slam into him, but it did not deter him.

He was almost like a machine, unable to feel pain. There was now no confusion in her mind at all as to why Azula preferred him.

He really was just like her.

As she stood, trying to think of something that would render him defenseless, a stream of fire shot at Siwang through the trees. Mai did not bother staying to see who it was. So long as there was someone who could see him present, Toph would be fine. Thus, she shot off through the trees without a second thought.

* * *

"**S**eriously Aang, I'm telling you, we're going the wrong direction! Ba Sing Se is THAT way," Sokka was saying, pointing in a seemingly random direction. Aang only rolled his eyes in response, leaving the retort to Katara.

"Would you just shut up and leave the navigating to the flying bison that _clearly_ knows more about flying than _you do_, Mister Earthbound?" Okay, from Aang, the glare was weird, from Katara, it was creepy. He raised his hands, shrugging.

"All right, but when we end up on the completely wrong side of this map and have to deal with Mister Bei Fong's Toph-like rage, don't look at me." The idea of dealing with an angry blind Earthbender was bad enough; dealing with an angry person who could see, and just happened to be said blind Earthbender's father? He may as well let Appa sit on him. Yet this was also assuming it ran in the blood.

"I don't think Mister Lao can even _get_ visibly angry," Aang commented, something of a side thought. He certainly had never seen him angry. Perhaps Toph had once or twice. He made a mental note to ask her sometime, because he was genuinely interested.

"Personally myself, I would rather not find out, but if you guys have a death wish whatever," Sokka said, leaning on the edge of Appa's saddle. At least the scenery was nice. He felt somewhat bad about leaving Suki behind, but she had insisted she would be fine. The letter that came was a little more than strange, addressed to Aang but it had been sent to the South Pole. They probably assumed the Southern tribe knew how to find him, and it just happened he and Katara were there at the time.

It was either sheer dumb luck, or the bird knew he was there.

After hearing all about the last three assassination attempts on Zuko's life and the promise of information pertaining to something even bigger, the three had set off to Ba Sing Se for a chat with a certain Dai Li Lieutenant or two. Maybe three. Jeong-Jeong and Iroh had apparently left the city entirely, so that only left the Earth King and the Dai Li as information sources.

They all pretty much assumed that the Dai Li would be more reliable for information regarding where their commander had gone, so they intended to have a talk with Haru and Jiva. Toph seemed to tell them the important stuff.

"What in the name of Monk Gyatso is that?" Sokka and Katara moved up at Aang's question, attempting to find what he was talking about. Whatever it was, it was shiny and silver. They all watched it until the silver glint turned into a throwing knife and landed in Sokka's arm. He let out a shriek and fell backward, Katara rushing over to him to heal it.

"Do you think its an ambush?" she asked, pulling the knife out. It looked oddly like one of Mai's… but according to the letter, Mai had died. She uncorked the water jug at her side, bending some out to heal as much of the wound as possible. It was a small knife, but it had cut into his arm muscle.

"No," Aang said, bringing Appa down. "It's Toph!" What in the world was Toph doing with - oh right, assassin enemies. She would have to be quick; she could already tell Aang intended to intervene.

"Ow ow ow, don't - OW!"

"Hold still and it won't hurt as much!"

"Appa, watch Katara and Sokka," Aang said, hopping off him as he landed, before firing a stream of flame through the trees. Running over, he thought maybe there was one of them missing, finding only the assassin and Toph.

"Toph, are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine, Twinkle Toes, you little Airbenders don't have anything on me." Airbenders? But he had shot flame.

"Oh dear, this was definitely not a part of the plan. Well now that your little friends have interrupted, I believe it is high time I take my leave." Toph's features screwed up into irritation, and her hands stretched out, raising a circle of earth around the assassin. He was effectively trapped.

"You aren't going anywhere." The man only smirked, and Aang could feel the air shifting around. The earth around their enemy erupted, sending shards of it flying everywhere. Aang snagged Toph, forcing her to duck before one of them whacked into her. He knew she couldn't see them.

Yet by the time the Aang stood back up, the assassin was gone. Toph grumbled various profanities at the revelation. Apparently someone was looking forward to kicking someone else's butt.

"Great, the first time I get within launching range of the guy, you three show up out of nowhere and rain on my parade. What is with people ruining my plans today!" She said nothing about Mai, knowing she had darted through the trees. She was still there, hiding and watching, knowing she couldn't go back to the rebellion. Toph recognized her movements; they had changed over the last year, become more predatory, but now that she had come across her face to face and felt her movements, Toph knew Mai had been the assassin that had pinned her to the door.

That meant she had been the one orchestrating at least a few of the assassination attempts; Zuko would not be happy, thus Toph did not intend to tell him, nor anyone else. That would remain between herself and Mai.

Besides, Mai owed him an explanation, one only she could give him. Toph had nothing to do with this. It was not her place. As much as she would have very much enjoyed dragging her through the mud as payback for ruining her sleeve the previous week, it really was not that big of a deal when held beside everything else that went with this. Yet it was a very convenient explanation as to why no one had succeeded in killing the Fire Lord.

Aang gave her a thoroughly confused look, backing away a few paces. She was not in a good mood, and Aang knew better than to be too close when she was irritated. After a few moments, Katara and Sokka slid off Appa and joined them. Only then, Toph lightened up, grinning at them. Then her cheer at seeing her old friends died when she realized what this meant.

"All right, what are you doing here?"

"Hey," Sokka started, raising a hand, "I told them this was the wrong direction and they decided to trust the bison anyway. And it was _you_ that hit me with a throwing knife, so don't complain, that really hurt." Uh, no actually that was Mai, but she kept her trap shut. Who winced at the declaration from the trees, trying her best not to move.

It would probably be helpful to her if Toph got them to leave. That in mind, she decided to go back to the inn early; but she would refuse to talk to Zuko. "Well come on then, since you're here you can help us launch our attack on the rebellion," she said, turning on her heel and heading toward the village. None of them were following her.

"The what?" all three said at the same time. Toph raised a hand, smacking her face. How could they not know about the rebellion against the Fire Nation's new leader? Jiminy Christmas, where had they been, under a rock? That was the only explanation she could come up with, as it seemed greatly unlikely they had not heard about it, what with the traveling and all. Well then again, that sort of depended on where exactly they had been, as some parts of the world just did not talk about it.

"You three apparently don't pay attention to worldly concerns."

"We've kind of been… well around the world a few times. Everyone wants Aang's attention for everything." Toph just nodded at Katara's words; it explained for her why no one in the Fire Nation knew where he was, and neither did anyone in Ba Sing Se.

"Well, you have all certainly missed out on a fair few things." She began walking again, signaling they should follow.

"I should get Appa," Aang said, turning around and running back through the trees. Soon enough, Katara mentioned that Aang and Appa were above them and would follow from the sky.

* * *

**H**ow long had they been wandering around, trying to find Toph? Zuko could only guess. He had a feeling he did not want to know either. The likelihood of it scaring him senseless was rather high, considering he had freaked out over just her _sleeve_ being pinned to a door a while ago. He just had to repeat the mantra he'd been repeating in his head since they had left. _She'll be fine, she can take care of herself, she'll be fine, an assassin will not get the best of her, even if it __**is**__ an Airbender assassin, and who knows maybe it's not even the assassin, maybe it's Aang._

_But what if the assassin IS Aang_, the voice thought, but Zuko almost physically smacked himself for even _thinking_ that. Aang would never become an assassin, his monk instinct ran too deep. _Remember Ba Sing Se? Of course you do… there are plenty of ways to make someone do what you want them to…_

_Shut UP voice, your commentary is __**definitely**__ not welcome right now._ To his relief, it did as he asked, and he turned to Jiva, whom was attempting to locate the Airbending they had felt.

"What are you two doing here?" he heard. It was Toph, he realized, his head snapping up to stare at her. Aside from a couple scratches and her usual coating of dirt being thicker than normal, she was fine. Apparently, she had company too. Zuko could only blink at Katara and Sokka behind her, looking up as a large shadow passed overhead. That was Appa.

"What are _you_ guys doing here?" was his tactless response. Katara giggled, and Sokka grumbled something unintelligible.

"Jiva, tell him just to follow us and shut up," Toph said, brushing past them and heading back. That was completely unexpected; why did she not just say that to him, he was right there. Great, see, he knew he had messed up. Yet only now did he realize it the fullest; Toph was not talking to him.

This would turn out the longest most horrible trip in his entire life.

Sokka hobbled up to walk next to him, Katara walking next to Toph. The look in his blue eyes was somewhat accusatory. "What did you do to piss the short one off?"

"I heard that."

"No offense, most amazing Earthbender in the world," Sokka said, a bit louder. Toph only snorted.

"You don't want to know," Zuko grumbled back. Sokka was sure he did, if only to throw him crap about it later. Yet for now, he figured he could be nice and just can it for once. The group walked in companionable silence the rest of the way, before coming to what looked like an inn in the middle of a village with an awkward color scheme for an Earth Kingdom village.

"Why is it -"

"The wrong color?" Toph asked, interrupting Sokka. "They have a patron spirit, that of a man who saved the village from a wildfire somehow. I forget the entire story. Anyway, the man had an awkward mix of highlights in his hair that made it look purple when the light hit it. When he died, they exchanged the trademark Earth Kingdom green for purple. Or so I hear from my various contacts."

Right, because it was completely normal for Toph to have various contacts outside of Ba Sing Se. He doubted the story, but… well whatever.

Aang landed, and the group went into the room Toph and Zuko had rented. Hakaea sat up, running to greet them at the door.

"Where did you guys go, I woke up and both of you were gone, oh Toph you're back, and… oh my gosh, you're the Avatar!" Her eyes turned to Katara and she gave a wide grin. "You must be Katara, it is such an honor to meet you, I'm Hakaea, I've heard all about you, you're my idol! … I don't know you, though," she said, glancing at Sokka.

He just toddled into the room, flopping into a chair. "I'm just a guy with a boomerang. … provided the dang thing comes back."

Hakaea gave him a confused look, but Jiva just gestured she should sit down. At length, Zuko and Jiva manage to fill the new yet old additions in, telling them about the assassin, then the rebellion that Toph and Zuko had gone to deal with, leading them here. Finally, they finished with telling them their plans to head to Ramoth themselves and face the rebellion head on.

"You shouldn't face them alone, honestly," Katara said, thinking things over. "I mean sure we stormed the Fire Nation capitol and survived, but we had help for that."

"Nah," Toph started, "this is just a little recon mission. We just want to figure out how big it is, where exactly it is, maybe try to pick up some plans here and there and then skit back to the Fire Nation and start gearing up for war."

Aang looked concerned. "We just got out of one of those."

"Yeah," Zuko answered, "but I think it would be worse not to face it head on. Even if it is fighting and no one wants to do that, we can't just let them alone either. If it is headed by my sister, that makes it even worse and means any compromising I try to do will be met with offense anyway."

The group sobered; they had completely forgotten about Azula and her escape. They should have done something about her sooner. But they had not, and now it had come to this. Peace was only a momentary break in the storm of war.

* * *

"**D**id we manage to get everything?" Hakaea asked, marking things off her list as she saw them in Appa's saddle. The girl wasn't very thrilled with the idea of flying, but flying on the only sky bison left? That had changed her mind about flying pretty quick. Toph just rolled her sightless eyes, climbing in. She did not bring anything to pack anyway so it did not really matter to her; the things she had brought were in her pockets.

Zuko on the other hand was freaking out. "Aang, come help me, I can't find one of my swords." Katara sighed, climbing in next to Toph and turning to help Hakaea up. The girl wound up floating up, courtesy the other Airbender.

In the meantime, Aang went back to the inn with Zuko, attempting to locate his missing sword. "Where did you have it last?"

"If I knew that would I be asking for your help?" was his snappish retort. Aang visibly winced at his anger, but felt that it wasn't really directed at him, so he said nothing in response. The two scoured the entire room, overturning chairs and moving book cases, and still came up with nothing. Irritated, Aang flopped onto the floor.

"… did you want to talk about it?" Zuko arched an eyebrow, still looking under pillows and bed sheets.

"Not really."

"You know someone is going to figure it out, you may as well talk to me before Katara gets wind of it." Alright, Aang had a point there, Zuko figured; the last thing he wanted was Katara's motherly anything, and if she did figure out there was something bothering him he would never hear the end of it. At least Aang was patient for the most part. Eh, though he probably wouldn't really understand Zuko's predicament; he and Katara had just kind of… clicked.

Unless… "Have you ever seriously pissed Katara off?" Aang looked confused, before nodding.

"Of course. No relationship exists without _some_ kind of disagreement, platonic or not. We argued just last week, actually, about whether we were coming to Ba Sing Se for you guys or not."

"So you did actually come for us."

"Yeah, but don't tell Toph; it was her dad." That did not surprise Zuko at all.

"Well, there's this girl I like, see. And um… well I kind of really pissed her off, I think. I have no idea how to make it up to her; Mai never really cared much, and given a few hours would come around on her own, but it's been two days."

Aang kind of had an idea as to who he was talking about, but the last thing he wanted to do was guess wrong and irritate him, much less the lady in question. He thought it was Toph, who was very obviously avoiding Zuko however she could, which he thought was awesome (the fact Zuko liked her, not that she was avoiding him; he liked seeing friends get together, and had been just ecstatic with Suki and Sokka), but again, both had testy tempers.

"The worst part is," Zuko started again, standing upright, "I think I may actually like her that way. At first it was just a spur of the moment thing, but now… now I don't know." What was a spur of the moment thing? Okay, just, whatever. Aang stood up, dusting himself off and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It was only when I realized I had to let go of Katara that I knew I couldn't live without her. I'm not saying try it and see how torn you feel, but, you have to figure that out for yourself. There's no guidebook to love in the world. Given time, though, I'm sure you'll know. You can't miss it, for some reason."

That was both helpful, and not. Zuko was never a very patient sort of guy, but it seemed he had to be in this situation, no matter if he was waiting for her or waiting for himself; he still had to wait. He shrunk a little, not looking forward to the waiting. It was easier with Mai, since she already liked him and had for a long time, and distance tended to do that to someone you know.

… distance… that was it. Just distance himself. Be there, but - damn, _now _he understood what Hakaea was talking about!

'_I hate to interrupt your epiphany, but if you would like to know, you slid your other sword under the mattress the other day in preparation for another assassin attack,_' came Kozu's voice. He arched an eyebrow, turning around and reaching under the mattress. Sure enough, there it was.

'_What would I do without you?_' he asked. He heard her giggle in his head.

'_Forget everything._'

* * *

**S**oon the sun began to set, and the group decided to stop and camp for the night. It would be just like old times, so everyone said, having the entire gang back together, plus two. Jiva and Hakaea had wound up fitting in just fine, finding that the group was made up of people just like them, not heroes or saints. Once they got past that, things had gotten much easier.

Toph, not interested in being too close to Zuko, had offered to go gather firewood. Katara came with her, just because she felt like it, she said. But Toph knew what it was. Nothing escaped Katara's mother-sense, and she'd almost instantly figured out there was something up with her.

The Earthbender found she didn't want to talk about it in the end, but felt it would be best just to get it over with. Katara could be very pushy in the most subtle of ways, which only led to more frustration than normal for her shorter friend.

"You know, you remind me of myself the first time Aang kissed me," Katara started. Toph dang near whacked her friend into the dirt under her feet. That was a scarily close evaluation, and Toph did not want to be reminded of it. Yet somehow she kept herself in check, shrugging and rummaging around in the grass, gathering sticks.

"Is that so?" Katara nodded. After a moment, Toph figured why the heck not, she would just pester anyway, may as well get it over with. "What was that like, for you two, before you got married?" she quietly asked. Katara considered this for a moment, shifting around and gathering her own armful.

"At first, I didn't feel like it was okay for me to feel like that about him, but I knew I did. I always did, somewhere in the back of my mind. But, I was just some girl, and he was the _Avatar_, for crying aloud. Well, I guess he still is… just now I'm not some girl anymore, I'm the Avatar's wife. I felt like it was wrong, that we should just be friends. Surely there would be someone better out there for him, right?"

Toph knew that feeling. True, she did not have the same inhibitions that Katara had, what with being one of the richest girls on the planet, but Zuko was _Fire Lord_, and she was far from the most well-mannered girl there ever was. In fact, sometimes she was quite the opposite. Now that her rebellious side was dying down a little, no longer feeling there was something she _needed_ to rebel against, she was a bit better. People could catch her in a dress if the occasion was right, her hair up in a million and one pins and flowers, and she wouldn't be disgruntled. That would have been her own choice now.

Yet she still carried a good majority of who she was then, because most of that was just _her._ Raw, unadulterated _her_. Though she may never admit it, not even to herself, Toph was just a little concerned that, maybe that raw unadulterated her was too much for him. He had people to see, things to do, treaties to sign, official documents to stamp. And where in the hell would she of all people fit into this?

Exactly.

"Things changed soon after the War. I knew there was no one in the world that knew him like I did, and no one would accept him as he was like I would, like I still do. All they see is the Avatar, and all I see is Aang."

Was that like herself and Fireball? True, Toph had never felt like there was anything about his crown that mattered to her, aside from the fear of making him uncomfortable with her awkwardness. In the end it was just a fancy golden thing. An expensive fancy golden thing that gave him the right to order people around, but it was still just a piece of metal. She bet all her money she could make a golden ball out of the dang thing one minute and put it right back as if nothing had happened the next.

And Toph couldn't see either; she had never seen his scar, and sometimes, that was all other people saw. Heck, sometimes that was all _he_ himself saw.

"I loved him, Toph. I knew that then more than anything. No one else would work for me, because they wouldn't be Aang. So I married him. I don't regret it at all. You should let him know somehow, whoever it is you like. See where it takes you."

"But what if it doesn't work, Katara? What if we just end up totally pushing the wrong buttons on each other, and everything falls apart?" Just like it had with her and Sokka, though… that was for a different reason. That was another thing; how did Katara keep Aang's eye on her and only her? The last thing she wanted was for her to go ahead with it and 'see where it takes her' as Katara said, only for Zuko to realize Mai's alive and drop her like a hot rock.

… the irony in that statement.

"Toph, I know it's hard, and I know that every step forward is just that much more scary. But you will never know if it will work or not if you don't try. Half of loving someone is trusting them enough to keep loving them, even when it hurts."

Did she trust him like that? Why shouldn't she? She'd known him for how many years now? Even when she hadn't seen or heard from Aang and Katara for months, she'd still be talking to Zuko. But that was because she lived with his uncle Iroh, right?

Then again, he didn't _have_ to say hi to her in his letters, even if she could read (Iroh always read those parts to her), and he didn't _have_ to play tag with her every time he came to visit. He also didn't _have_ to come with her to the bonfire that night, and make nice with her officers and shake hands with Kyeong and Meng and Jing. Furthermore on the other side of the same coin, _she_ didn't have to answer him, or play back, or invite him, introduce him as if he were one of the guys and always had been. Hell, even all the way at the beginning of things, right after the eclipse invasion, she didn't have to stick up for him and insist the gang accept him into their group.

… had, for some reason, that angry sulky jerk managed to break down her walls during all those years of letters and tag?

That was both scary, and exhilarating a thought all at once. "Katara," she started, straightening out and turning toward the woman next to her, "I need your help with something."

"Are you going to write someone a letter again?"

Toph shook her head, but all she would say is, "I can't see color."

* * *

**Notes:** I intended to have this up ages ago I am SO so sorry… anyway. "Cold Heritage" by Lacuna Coil.  
For interest reasons, that was not its original name, it was originally Low, by Coldplay.

Also, really needing a Zuko and an Aang here for Ascension, I hate openly asking for them but I have an idea that needs those two before we can take off. Please PM me if you're interested this time.  
*never mind on Aang, just got one*

I know I know, you saw Mai coming a mile away. I suck, I'm sorry. *Earthbends a tent and sulks* Also, I may be kind of slow with updates here for a while, I just realized the last chapter completely put a dent in the outlines for this, but I'm trying my best not to deviate too far but still work around it. While writing the last chapter I really had to stop and ask myself, kiss here, or later?

But in the end I decided it would work best right at that moment, I could not find a way to do it better and it would be the greatest lead up to a confrontation I had ever come up with (especially considering Siwang was hoping for some reason Toph would separate from them), even if it was not originally the plan. Then it was kind of lame, going through six freaking chapters and not even having them _thinking _about each other like that yet. I'm sure it crossed their minds over the years of being friends, Mai was just in the way. XD I like her to an extent though. As a result of my own screw up, however, this may end up longer than I originally intended, so apologies if it seems to drag on for a bit here. I'll do my best to make the dragging interesting at least, but they have somewhere they need to be right now. xD A chapter late but ah well.


	9. Sulfur

_Previously on Like the Sun:_  
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"  
"What is with people ruining my plans today?"  
"Have you ever seriously pissed Katara off?"  
"I can't see color."

_**M**y mother told me a story once, a long time ago. Hm, actually, I suppose she has told me many stories, but the point is that she told me a particularly interesting one. See where some little boys my age were interested in learning how to swing a sword in just the right way, and hunt and stuff like that, I was interested in learning how the heart worked. It baffled me, really, and... Well it still does. I did manage to get her to tell me a story about love, one of the plethora of selections she had chosen for my sister, by making something up about proving a friend wrong about how it ended. At the time, I had no idea how it ended, so I was very glad she never asked awkward questions._

_It was about a princess that was later chosen to be sacrificed to the resident evil monster terrorizing her province in order to appease the creature and get it to cease its terrorizing. In an act of bravery, she allowed her people to tie her up and leave her there. Yet when the monster came bumbling over, intent on making her his next meal, the brave prince from the other province arrived just in time, defeating the monster with ease and taking her as his bride._

_Me being me, I had to wonder on a certain few points. The first being, if it was that easy for one little prince to defeat, then why did they not just do this to begin with? It seemed to me it would have saved a lot of trouble in the end. The second point was what kind of idiot gave their life up that honestly. Yet, the third, and most important to me, was that of the monster and the prince, in perspective. It was all fine and dandy of course, that the prince had saved her from the monster; that was to be expected. He was after all a prince. We had a very nasty habit of doing some very dangerous things without thinking. However, what if the prince just turned out to be another monster?_

_That question must have been a little too close to home, because mom never answered._

_

* * *

_

"**A**w shit!" That was the nicest thing Zuko could think of to say as he rolled over in his sleep, right on top of what appeared to be his swords, but clanked like the pieces of said swords instead. This was just not his week; first Toph refuses to talk to him, and then somehow he manages to break his swords in his sleep. Shifting up, he examined the both of them; neither looked as if he had melted them and then broken them on accident, so he was not Firebending in his sleep again. Toph probably would have recognized his heart beat patterns if that were the case and kicked him or something.

Somehow, in the middle of the night, they had just… snapped.

Jiva was an early, early riser (as in, maybe he did not even go to sleep at all), so he was the only one awake. Zuko could tell, as the wind was shifting around in places it should not be, meaning the Airbender was meditation hovering. Zuko did not feel like waking anyone up, so he gathered the pieces together and trudged outside in the early morning light. Jiva almost instantly stopped meditating, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Looks like you get to go to the blacksmith with me." The group had finally settled down somewhere outside Kaijin, and the plan was, after restocking and getting a good night's sleep, they were to head to Ramoth from there, but no. Now they had to stay here for Agni only knew how long until his swords were fixed. What? Those swords had saved his butt on occasion; no way was he going into enemy territory without them.

"Did you find something wrong with your swords?" Jiva innocently asked. Zuko gave him an unnecessary angry look.

"Yeah, they are in pieces." With that said, he dropped them all onto the dirt in front of him. Jiva winced at the sight. 'In pieces' was being nice. One was snapped across near the tip, whereas the other was in far worse shape; that one had been cracked right down the blade, small chips breaking off here and there. Those would pretty much need to be reforged.

"You'd probably be better off just getting new ones entirely. Would you like some tea?" Zuko nodded, muttering thanks. Jiva was right; at least one of them was so utterly destroyed he may as well just get a replacement rather than having the blacksmith work his or her butt off repairing it. Honestly, what had gotten to them while he was sleeping?

"You'll probably have to bill it, huh?" Jiva's words snapped him out of his thoughts, and he reached out to take the cup Jiva offered. "I doubt any of us have that kind of money on hand." Zuko sighed, loudly. Aye, swords were not cheap in the least anymore. Half the time, finding some good blades was a pain as well, as after the War ended; in some parts, bladed weapons became nothing more than decoration.

Further, they were not being mass-produced now, making them more expensive to boot.

"Life hates me, Jiva." With that, Zuko set his tea down, letting himself fall over onto his back with a huff. The sky was a lovely mix of pre-dawn hues, the stars still twinkling down at him; he felt like they were laughing.

"Oh, don't say that," the Airbender replied, trying his best to sound consoling. "Life is just a nice constant up and down, but it's a good up and down."

"What makes you say that?"

Jiva laughed his airy laugh, almost as if it were a wheeze. When Zuko had first heard that sound, he thought Jiva had some odd sickness, and found it weird. Now, however, he found it oddly calming. "The ups make the downs easier to bear, and the downs make the ups mean something." Zuko blinked, sitting up a bit so he could arch his only eyebrow at him in curiosity.

"Who told you that?" Jiva smiled, almost sadly.

"Fei Xing."

The Shooting Star had told him that, huh? Zuko had heard of Fei Xing; everyone had. He was a mystery of mysteries, almost an urban legend. No one had ever really seen him, so they said, and those who had did not seem to live much longer than that. A Firebender, no one could call him a prodigy, as he was best known for his explosive temper; literally explosive. He would go into a tavern, drink until he could not see straight, get upset over something, and everything would go up in flame, the incident usually ending with him running off in a random direction, flame curled around his fists. It made him look like a shooting star, hence his name, for no one had ever heard his real name.

Zuko chose not to ask how Jiva knew him and had survived. It seemed almost nosy, and Zuko was not particularly interested in story time now either. Jiva's personal business was Jiva's personal business, and prying into the personal life of a man so humble almost seemed borderline sacrilege.

"Come on then," he started, downing the rest of his tea. "I want to get to the blacksmith and back before anyone else wakes up and protests against staying longer than we planned."

* * *

"**W**e're **WHAT**?"

The whole reason he had intended to get and be back was this. Sokka, squealing as loud as his little man voice would let him, in protest against staying longer than they first intended.

"I at least have to stay here for another week, at least until my swords are ready," Zuko calmly explained. Jiva was off to the side, trying not to chuckle at the scene before him. The look the Fire Lord was giving Sokka was beyond amusing, but he figured it would be best to simply stay out of this. Sokka's hand rose to collide with his forehead. Idly, Jiva wondered how many more times he could stand to do that so hard before his brains turned into a smoothie.

"Right, because your swords are just that much more important than - and how on earth did you manage to pay for them anyway?"

"That is a very good question."

Even Jiva did not know the answer to that. Zuko had not brought as much in coin as his uncle had insisted he should, much to the latter's concern. On the other hand, Toph was right; walking around the damn near wilderness of the Earth Kingdom loaded with gold sounded like a very dumb idea. That was bound to attract attention from _someone_ and the entire point was not attracting attention.

Somehow, however, the blacksmith seemed to have been expecting him, and said that they would arrange for payment later.

"What, did the guy just decide he'd fix them for free?" Understandably, Sokka was quite skeptic; Jiva had to admit he was too. Something was not quite normal about any of this, but what exactly was off, he could not tell.

"He said something about worrying over payment later. … Katara, have you seen Toph?" The girl in question paused, bent over the fire as she was cooking breakfast. Something or other Sokka had (miraculously) managed to spear. Jiva had passed, saying something about berries being a more preferable choice.

"Er… why no, I haven't. Hm, she's probably just wandering around. She's like that." Jiva for one was not pleased with that answer, but he said nothing on the matter. The Fire Lord was a different story; he looked concerned for a moment before he simply shrugged and stood.

"I think I'll pass on breakfast. A walk sounds like a better idea. Sorry, Katara," Zuko said, his tone sounding entirely too distant for it to just be a walk, but no one said anything either. As soon as he had gone out of earshot, Sokka leaned in, speaking quietly to his sister.

"Okay, what was that?"

"What was what?"

"Don't play stupid, Katara, you're hiding something."

The smile she gave him almost made Jiva laugh. It was so very Toph-like he really had to wonder what the two were up to. Nothing particularly dangerous, he was sure, but nonetheless, mischievous. "Toph and I are just playing a game that's all. Calm down, Sokka, you'll ruin your favorable features with wrinkles."

The sudden unexpected (and terribly un-Katara) rebuttal stunned Sokka into silence for a moment, until it sank in and a grin spread across his face.

"I knew you are my sister. That's a comeback to make Sokka proud!"

* * *

**A**nkle deep in coal, covered in dirt, grime, and soot, Toph had to admit she was fairly comfortable. True, the heat thing could like, go away, but she felt _alive_. More alive than she had felt in a very long time. There was nothing but the sound of burning coal around her, occasionally the scraping from the other side of the forge, where the blacksmith was working on an order someone else had placed earlier that day. Beside her, Zuko's swords lie side by side, tied together so they never left one another. Oddly, they were fixed. All Toph needed to do was tweak the metal's compounds, dry melt them back together and file off the excess. In the forge, however, was a new sword altogether.

"You're certainly a quiet worker, girl," the blacksmith, Shin Yu, commented. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. It was just the symbolism that got to her, if she had to guess at it. For crying aloud she was _forging_ something by hand that could, one day, save someone's life. That was powerful.

"Name's Toph; we were never properly introduced," she said softly, before shifting up and shoveling more coal into the fire.

"That's a unique name."

"I suppose."

"He means a lot to you, doesn't he." It wasn't a question. Nor was it truly a statement. It was neither, yet both at the same time. It just was, and Toph knew it was true. The real extent of it, however, she wasn't sure about. How much did she really care about him?

"He does."

This was all Katara's idea though. When Toph had asked for her help designing a necklace for Zuko, Katara had jumped right into it headlong. Eventually, Katara had decided that maybe it would be a better idea to use something else entirely for this necklace. The girls had come to Shin Yu looking to find a metal; metal was more practical. She could see it better than she could see any glass bead, allowing her to design it herself properly, and it was sturdier anyway. Toph had even picked out a rust resistant metal, more commonly used for armor than flipping necklaces.

But hey, he was the Fire Lord. This metal, darksilver the blacksmith had called it, was exactly how she saw him. Covered in a dark hue that may or may not have been there because of his own actions, and yet unyielding, strong, determined. Besides, if she had made the necklace out of glass beads like she had first intended to, it could easily break. He did have a habit of getting into some really tight jams, yes?

However, darksilver was very expensive, and Toph would need to work off the difference. And so, Katara had formulated a plan to keep the group in Kaijin until Toph had worked up enough in pay with the blacksmith to cover the cost of the darksilver bar she wanted, which had inadvertently landed her in this situation. Making Zuko a necklace and forging swords to pay for it. Thus when Zuko had come in that morning with Jiva, Shin Yu had said just this once, he'd ignore his usual pre-pay tenant, fix them, and Zuko could figure out a way of paying him later. Behind the scenes, however, Toph was the one he owed; she was the one fixing them. Eventually Shin Yu would just wave Zuko's payment off and let her decide whether she wanted to mention the entire ordeal or not.

Most likely, she'd never mention it at all. She was rich you know. She could afford not to charge him. Toph could only hope the gesture wouldn't be lost on him entirely. He should figure it out, by all means, having spent so much time around Katara and her 'don't-hurt-mommy's-necklace' reflex.

"Just make sure you don't hurt yourself. I don't think he'd like his girl's blood in his necklace." His girl? Now that was an interesting thought; Toph, being someone's girl. She grinned, chuckling quietly at the implications of that statement before attempting to remove some of the soot off her shirt; it was making her nose tickle. Still laughing quietly, she started shoveling coal into the brazier again.

"Nah, Shin Yu, you have it backwards. He's my boy."

* * *

**O**kay, so what have we learned? We have learned that reforging a sword and forging a necklace at the same time is a lot more work than it sounds like it might be. Toph was worn down to the bone when she finally stumbled back to camp outside Kaijin, looking as if she had not had a wink of sleep in the last week and walking no better.

Luckily, most of her friends were already asleep, save for Jiva (but he never really seemed to sleep much anyway). He said nothing, much to her appreciation, and within seconds she was falling over onto her place off to the side, forgoing the earth tent entirely. That would merely serve to wake everyone up anyway, and she was far too tired to bother with it. Maybe she'd get lucky, and Jiva would toss a blanket over -

"Where were you?" Yes, it figures the Princess would be waiting for her. She only grumbled something indecipherable and rolled over. "Toph, you can't just ignore me for the rest of the trip. Where have you been, the sun has been down for hours now!"

"Why does it even matter?" Toph yawned. "What, were you up all night worrying about me?"

"Yes, in fact, I was."

Well that was just a tad bit annoying. "I can take care of myself stupid, and I expect you guys to do the same." She couldn't leave for a night, work her ass off, and come back to a good night's sleep? Of course not, because Princess had to nitpick and nag for a handful of that night, rile her all up, and then - and never mind that she was doing this specifically for him, entirely. He was being an ungrateful jerk, and the worst part of it was, he did not even know he was being one and she couldn't tell him either!

"I know that," was his quiet response. Toph sighed, hoping that would be the end of it. Yet even if he said absolutely nothing, she knew he was dealing with some serious emotional turmoil.

"Obviously, I'm talking to you now. I'm not upset anymore. I just don't think there's any point in talking about it either. Just go to bed, we'll talk later. I've been on my feet all day and I'm tired."

Thankfully, he got the hint and went away.

* * *

**T**hings went on like that for almost an entire week. Just one more day, and it would be a full week. Katara eventually took to visiting the blacksmiths around noon, bringing lunch. It was entirely important, she stressed, to eat three full meals a day, and not skimp on hydration either, you drink enough tea don't you Toph? Luckily, none of the crew ever followed her; it would seem she had not even told Aang about their little secret, which was a bit confusing for Toph. She would have figured Katara would tell her husband at the very least, but she surprised her and remained true to her vow of secrecy.

Jiva always gave her weird looks; she could feel those on the back of her neck every time she came back to camp after a long day of burning braziers and coal soot. Thus, because he did, Hakaea did too, and never mind the kind of looks Zuko shot her way when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Sometimes those made her smile, but oftentimes, it just made her feel funny. It could be worse, she told herself. They could be ganging up on her with tons of questions she was not willing to answer.

The good news was, she was already halfway through making Zuko's necklace, and her debt was also already halfway paid off. True, she could have simply gone back to Ba Sing Se, grabbed a bunch of money, come back, paid for it the normal way, and then started on it; but Toph was extremely impatient and knew that would take not only a lot of arguing with the group about suddenly changing direction for obscure reasons, but also some time to get there and back. Never mind the problem of keeping it hidden from everyone when it was _in their camp right under their noses_.

So she had stuck with her initial plan, which was going rather smooth, all things considered. They had even learned a bit about the rebellion; supposedly it was headed by Azula and comprised mostly of Ozai-supporting extremists. Their plan was to overrun the Fire Nation and place Azula on the throne, and then re-start Ozai's plan for the world after breaking him out. Wonderful right?

As for the assassin, there was more than one of them, and only one of them was known; an obscure man by the name of Siwang. For some reason, the name had apparently made Jiva extremely irritated about something (extremely irritated in Jiva's case being a bit jittery, here, as Jiva never really got irritated in the normal sense of the word) and he'd ditched them all for a few days. The pacing Hakaea was doing for those few days… Toph would _not_ miss it.

At least she knew now that, despite her awkward all-day disappearances, nothing had really slowed down much. Katara had taken the lead while Zuko was moping, and had gotten them a bit farther in their search for information than them actually going to Ramoth could have possibly ever gotten them, knowing their luck with waltzing into enemy territory.

Thus, Sokka was pacified, and everyone else had calmed down too. Sparky had quit it with the awkward questions, and had finally stopped staying up all night waiting for her. This was entirely relieving, she hated coming back to camp and finding that there was a pair of what she heard were golden eyes on her.

She was just a bit later than normal this time. Only a few hours, but, Toph had been on a roll today; two swords had just gotten finished, Shin was just putting the last few touches on them, and the necklace was almost done. Likely, it was also mostly paid off. Toph found that she enjoyed this job, perhaps a little too much; maybe she might want to be one officially, a blacksmith. That would be cool.

Almost practically half dead, she made her way back to camp. The birds were already chirping, much to her annoyance; she'd been out far longer than she had intended to be. Getting sidetracked was a very bad idea, but at the moment she was so tired it didn't really matter very much in the long run. They wouldn't really miss her anyway, as they weren't really aware she wasn't there.

Aside from maybe Jiva. She really had to wonder if that man ever slept.

The sound of whistling caught her attention; it was quiet, barely there, but she heard it anyway. One of the many perks to being blind was the rest of her senses had kicked into high gear automatically, and out of necessity, stayed that way. She stopped walking, her brain working as fast as it could, trying to pinpoint which direction it was coming from.

Just in time, she kicked a wall of earth up in front of her, to the left. Sadly, she'd missed two of the projectiles, and both buried themselves in her shoulder, the impact sending her sliding across the ground a few inches. She could sense the blood crashing into the earth beneath her. That would hurt later. The wind finally started moving, and if she was anyone else, Toph would have panicked. She was alone, dead tired and not thinking straight, faced with an Airbender assassin. Fuck.

Adrenaline kicked in, listening and attempting to follow the wind. More whistling, and she threw up another earth wall, this one higher. Again, she missed one, that one slamming into her arm. Against her will, she let out a strangled shriek at the pain. "Come down here you little rat and face me! Or are you scared a little girl's gonna kick your ass?"

"Mm, not particularly. That idea is almost as exhilarating a thought as kicking yours."

Just what kind of freak was this guy? She noticed movement on the ground to her right; within a few moments, several blasts of flame shot up and above her, following the assassin's movements. No, this wasn't good; Zuko was the one he was after. More whistling; instinctively, she turned on her heel, tackling Zuko just in time to knock him out of the way of several knives. Another scratch added to the growing collection on her arm, but what was a few more scratches? Without a second thought, she raised both arms, ignoring the pain in her left one, catching Zuko in an earth dome and trapping him there. She felt him attempting to free himself for a few minutes.

"What was that for!"

"Dunderhead, he's after you! You should have stayed at camp!"

"Toph, let me out!"

"Shut up and stay in there where it's s - IEK!"

She'd been too busy arguing with him, she'd missed the whistling this time. Another throwing knife had buried into her shoulder, the other one this time. Frick. If she didn't think of something soon... heh, the Blind Bandit might actually lose for once. ... okay, twice, if you counted Twinkle Toes at Earth Rumble Six but as far as she was concerned that didn't count.

Frick, this was more difficult than she had first anticipated. She had no idea where the assassin was, and Zuko's anxiety was pulsating through the ground and distracting her. Toph hated it when he was anxious like that, it seemed like his heart was about to explode, but at the moment she had to concentrate on something else. It was difficult, far too difficult.

_Now if the universe would just drop something pleasant on me right about now..._ Too bad she knew it probably wouldn't. Plays worked that way, not reality. Shit, whistling from two different directions; now she had to wonder if she was fighting only one of them and not both. _Damn it Mai, if I find out one of them is you..._ Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't. Instead of blocking, though, this time she just hit the ground, instinctively throwing several boulders the directions the whistling was coming from. All four of those boulders crashed into a tree, and she felt something fall out of one... no, that was a branch.

Thankfully, the knives just whistled right over her and embedded themselves in various trees.

"Toph, if you don't let me out right now -"

"Shut up Princess, you're distracting me."

"Damn it, Toph, DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE SHE DID!"

For whatever reason, Toph found that unbearably sweet.

Feet touched the ground a few meters away; she raised her good arm, tugging at the earth and making a - ... a nothing. Why was it not responding? Slowly, she noticed her seismic sense had begun to dim. In a few seconds it wouldn't be there anymore either.

"Looks like it kicked in. My work here is done."

The good thing about already being blind was it wasn't so jarring when she lost consciousness.

* * *

"**_Katara_!**"

It wasn't a statement, or even really a scream. Actually, she thought it sounded more like a roar, and never had she heard so much anxiety in the Fire Lord's voice before. It startled her, almost senseless, to hear that much stress in his tone. Immediately, she got up, slipping out of the tent she shared with Aang.

One look at the bundle of red and green in his arms and she instantly knew why he sounded so pained.

"Oh god, what happened?" she asked, rushing over and helping him set Toph down gently. Aang peeked his head out, and then ducked back in, coming to her side in a few moments with a jug of water. With practiced movements, she bent the water out and healed while Aang pulled the knives out.

"Assassin, I think there were two but one ran off soon after I got there. I fought with the other for a while after she lost consciousness. She's okay right?"

"Relax Zuko, you're going to give yourself a heart attack."

"I lost Mai like this..."

"I'm sure she's fine, Zuko," Aang chimed in, clearly not happy with having to tug throwing knives out of his Earthbending teacher's arm; "Toph's strong." He went silent, deciding not to distract Katara. Within a few moments, Katara flinched as if something had bitten her, the water suddenly going loose and crashing into Toph's arm, soaking it instantly. As if Katara had lost control of it.

"Katara?"

"I... it stopped responding."

_No..._ He had heard of something that did that. Zuko shifted over, kneeling between Aang and Katara, staring at one of the wounds on Toph's arm. There was a streak of red across it, as if a rash. He recognized it, seen it before, but he couldn't remember what its name was...

"Fire willow poison." All three turned to look up at Jiva. It wasn't surprising for anyone now to see him look so calm. He always was.

"Fire willow?"

"That poison was meant for Zuko. It disrupts the normal pathways of a Firebender's energies, cutting off their bending and knocking everything out of alignment. In essence, it is like turning their Firebending against them."

"What... what does it do to an Earthbender...?" Zuko almost didn't want to know the answer to the question, even as he asked it, almost against his will.

Jiva shook his head. "No Earthbender has ever been exposed to it before, as far as I am aware. I don't know. I do know that many a Firebender has been killed by the fire willow's poison; it is however very rare, so I cannot help but wonder where the assassin found it. Katara cannot heal it; she can heal the wounds but not counter the poison. The Fire Nation's medics will be capable of countering it, I'm sure. We have no choice. We have to abandon the mission and go to the Fire Nation capital."

"Go ahead and get ready," Katara said, standing and bending the water off the ground and back into the bottle. "I have to get something from town before we leave."

The rest of the group packed up almost entirely silently, but quietly. Zuko, however, lifted Toph up and climbed into Appa's saddle as soon as Katara left, refusing to move from that spot or allow anyone to move Toph. Jiva could see his distress as easily as one saw the sun, and bid Aang and Hakaea leave him be.

Soon enough, Katara returned, a bundle of cloth that made the sound of metal clanking together in her arms. She set it down in the grass, unwrapping it to reveal several swords. Zuko's swords were there, along with two new ones. Those were straight bladed, one of them having a sharp edge on only one side. That one she handed to Jiva. "Shin Yu says that Toph requested that one in particular be given to you. He said she mentioned you'd understand." Jiva nodded once, wrapping the blade in a blanket and tying it to his waist.

The other new one, she handed to Sokka; it was designed similar to the sword he had forged with Piandao, Zuko noted. "This one is for you. He said Toph told him about space sword, and she believed that even though you've settled down with Suki, a warrior should never be without his sword. She said even though it's not the same one, she still hopes you like it."

Sokka admired it for a few moments, trying out a few moves with it. He seemed pleased enough, so she carried the bundle over to Appa, climbing into the saddle and handing Zuko his swords. "Shin Yu said she got these done first, that they were the most important to her, and they hung on the wall in the back of the employee office for most of her time with him. She made them stronger, reforging the blades entirely rather than merely putting them back together. He told me to tell you that she's a very devoted woman, and that she cares about you very much. He said that's not something that's easy to find these days, and that you should cherish it. Not many people are so lucky to have such a talented woman love them so much. ... that's what he said, at least."

Zuko just stared at her, one arm cradling Toph, the other tracing the light flame pattern engraved into the blades. She had been the one repairing his swords? All this time, that was what she'd been doing? Suddenly, he felt like such a jerk acting the way he had about it. Katara shifted, stuffing something into one of Toph's pockets, but he didn't catch what it was. He gave her a questioning look.

"That one's a secret," was all the explanation she offered.

"Appa, yip yip!"

Zuko curled up right where he was, tucking Toph securely beside him; he never wanted her out of his sight again.

* * *

**Notes:** "Sulfur" by Slipknot. I keep forgetting that part.

Okay, bare with me here, some of this is probably gonna start making **no. sense. whatsoever. **for a while here. But I promise it all clicks into place at the end. The next chapter may confuse the ever loving daylights out of you but I promise it's worth it. Anyway, rambling. Nothing of importance to say, really. Haha. Just be glad I refrained from ripping this apart and rewriting it all. Still very tempted to, however, but then it crossed my mind that Siwang really *is* that crazy.

Fei Xing means Shooting Star, or more literally, Flying Star in Mandarin Chinese.

About the whole smoothie thing up there someplace, yes, I know. Don't care either.

SOOOO sorry this took forever. e.e I did finally figure out what the hell's wrong with my computer, and the dizzy went away a few days after that. It was an inner ear infection. Ren's fine~. 3 Very busy but fine. Might still take me a bit to get going again, I think I might have also screwed myself up a second time, as I'm on Windows 7 now so I can't access .wps files on here anymore~ meaning I can't get into the files that have my outlines. HAHA. I might just wing it I dunno, I'm pretty good at improvisation. We'll see.

Thank you for being so patient with me!


	10. Whisper

**Whisper**

_Ever since I was a little boy, I've remembered the sea. It was there in the morning, the waves throwing the sunlight in seemingly arbitrary directions, and it was there in the evening, falling beneath the waves it seemed to be born from. My father always told me stories about the sea people, children of the deep blue waters, neither man nor fish. Those sea people were always tricky - sometimes, they would be in a very good mood and help sailors hopelessly lost in storms to find their way back to land. And sometimes, those same sea people would get another ship of sailors hopelessly lost. Their minds were finicky. They found only chaos and disorder interesting, and my father always warned me of the dangers of losing my own senses to the chaos that ultimately thrived within the mind of one whom held no control over himself._

_I never thought the day would come wherein I would see this come to be a reality. It was not within myself, but within my brother._

_They say that once a man loses his heart, his will, his sense of reason, he tries desperately then on out to replace it. There is always a part of him missing, no matter what he may do in an attempt to fill that void. It was a painful process to watch, and yet I did regardless. I did for many years, despite the fact that, by then my brother had gone off on his own, never to come back to the place he once called home, our small Earth Kingdom house by the sea. We were raised in a war-torn era, an era of which, no doubt, contributed to my brother's downfall, the loss of his reason, and that is the country's fault and no other's. Things were hard, made even more so by the mere fact and knowledge that the both of us were Airbenders._

_I took to that ideal, clung to that heritage with the hope that, if we had survived, perhaps others had too and the Air Nomad civilization would one day see a resurgence. But my brother... he feared that, merely by being descended from a nation that had been, albeit unfairly, near completely removed from the map, that he too was doomed to one day be too weak. He became obsessed with power - if I had been paying the sort of attention I should have to him, I would have realized that, within the vibrancy of his bluish-gray eyes lie shadows, dark shadows that someday would consume him. I saw it then and did nothing, believing that somehow my brother would find his way again on his own. He was too strong, I thought, to fall to the doubts that had slowly begun growing in his soul. Yet I know that perhaps even if I had, even if I attempted to circumvent its inevitable outcome, maybe I still would not have been able to save him._

_Often, the darkest and most unrelenting of our demons lie only within our own minds, and only we can save ourselves from them._

* * *

_Our mother and father were simple and modest; they lived off the land and needed nothing else to support their family with. The earth gave to those who gave to Her, and though they worked long hours tending the farm and raising the livestock, they were happy. I was too. I learned early on in my years how to fish, how to hunt, how to track. I soon would become a master of tracking an animal that had run, and many a time tracked down livestock that separated from the others and returned home with it in tow, always in one piece. My brother never became much of a worker. His mind was made for science and research, and much of his time was spent surrounded by mounds of books and papers, the best our meager earnings could buy. Our father, though he did not favor the idea of a son whom knew next to nothing about how to provide for himself should his science and research fail him, fueled his interest without hesitation._

_To tell the truth I believe for many years that I was in fact jealous of this bond between my father and my brother; father used the stars to track the seasons and planted and harvested based upon where the stars were in the sky at any one time. My brother learned much then, how the stars moved and how they could be used to tell time and even exact location. The two eventually later devised means of navigation based not upon a map of the earth, but a map of the stars. I remember many expeditions into the forests, the still untamed wild of the Earth Kingdom and later voyages out onto the sea. I remember being jealous, because when I looked at the sky I did not see a map; I saw the faces of heaven smiling at me. Mother shared this with me - she taught me to meditate, to ground and center, to live in harmony each and every day I woke up. She taught me how to help an animal in labor deliver her young as painlessly as was possible, how to care for the wounds of those livestock that became injured, how to hear the many voices that whispered within my own soul and the wind that blew through the trees._

_My brother had father, but undoubtedly in return, I had mother._

_By the time we turned seven, I felt fear of him for the first time. He and father had just returned from a voyage from one coast to another - nothing fancy like he wanted. Father refused, and continued to for many years, to take him across the sea to another nation. Across the sea from us lay the Southern Water Tribes, and while the people themselves were no threat, the Fire Nation had already decimated their population and, at any time, could return on a whim - father wanted neither of us anywhere near Fire Nationals, and I understood then and still do now. My brother, however, did not. The two were arguing long before they came in the doorway. I moved from my place near the door to another chair on the other side of the table next to mama. She was tense. Never before had my brother used such an agitated tone with my father before._

_"You don't want to take me because you think I'm too young!"  
__"No, Tenak, listen, the world is in -"  
__"Peril, there is a hundred year war still raging the same one that wiped out the Air Nomads, blah blah, I'm not them!"  
__"Tenak, you are of the same descendance, you're only seven and I am nothing against -"  
__"You're **nothing!** That's an accurate description! I'll find my own way across the sea!"  
__"Tenak!"_

_It was so silly a thing to argue over. There would be plenty of opportunities for sea travel, so long as my brother chose to go elsewhere, perhaps to another Earth Kingdom port. But he was adamant. The ferocity of which he pursued his goal of reaching the Southern Water Tribe both awed and terrified me. To someone whose pleasures were found in the scent of the sea water so close by, the sound of the wind tickling the leaves, to want so badly to cross the sea to a scary and unknown land as to defy our father... to me, well that was a fairly good reason to be terrified of him. I watched, silent as I have always been, the quiet shadow watching over my brother; and as I watched, I saw him fall deeper and further into his quest of crossing the sea, and reaching the South Pole._

_The arguments continued. Where once father and Tenak had gotten along splendidly, as if two halves of the same mold, now they seemed irritated by one another for any reason, and no reason at all. Dinner frequently became the host of many a snarky comment, and many feelings were often hurt. Eventually, the arguments became so bad, not just in frequency but in content (how Tenak could ever consider our father anything less than kind and loving was beyond my childish understanding), that mother soon began bringing their dinner to them, and neither was required to eat at the table with her and myself ever again._

_Tenak began to lose sleep, as he fell even further into his goals. I still was, am even now, profoundly confused as to why it mattered so much; I suppose the short answer is that it mattered to Tenak and that was why it did. Perhaps in some confused, childish sense he was attempting to prove, not to father but to himself, that he would not grow up to be as weak as the Air Nomads that had fallen to the Fire Nation had been, at least by his perception. He was so obsessed with being his own idealized version of 'strong' that, I think somewhere along the way, he forgot what strength even really is. And I knew even then, though I don't believe I was quite aware the true extent of it, that there was nothing I could do to change that for him._

_"Tenak, it's late. Why are you still awake?"  
__"I'll show him, I'll get across the sea on my own."  
__"Still up about that?"  
__"It's really important Jadyka. You wouldn't really understand."  
__"Maybe I would."  
__"You're too simple-minded to. Go back to bed, my sea voyage isn't your problem."_

_It seems to me now that, even at such a young age, he had very detailed and specific goals for himself. Maybe he did know what it all meant and maybe really he didn't - truly he didn't understand the full extent of the meaning of power itself, only knew that he believed the Air Nomads weak and thus he couldn't be weak, and needed to, instead, be strong. To him, crossing the sea on his own and reaching the South Pole in one piece meant that, ultimately, he had no need for father, or mother, or even me, and at such a young age, it would certainly mean he would only grow stronger as the years went by. At the same time, the fear that he would fail, that he would by his own perception be forever doomed to a life of weakness, would eat away at him._

* * *

_"Tenak! Where are you going?"_

_It was sometime toward the start of the autumn season. The winds were becoming colder, and we all knew that the frosts were only a few weeks away. The sun had barely even begun thinking about peeking its head over the trees, the sky still a very deep blue, but the sound of my father hurriedly pulling his boots on and rushing out the door awakened me. Only moments later, my mother knocked on the door._

_"Jadyka, get up, your brother... he's lost his mind!"_

_If only because mother seemed so horribly upset, I got out of bed as quickly as my half-awake mind would allow and soon followed her and father out the door. Tenak had succeeded in building a boat, it seemed, which mimicked the Fire Nation warship designs, albeit smaller. Father ranted and raved as Tenak pushed it into the water; I remember the sound of the rocky shore's pebble population scraping against the wood sounding oddly louder than it normally did. Perhaps it is an impression I got in retrospect rather than at the time. I couldn't hear anything father said and mother refused to let me get much closer than we already were - instead, she clung to me, as if afraid that someday I may do the very same thing._

_All I remember is watching the Tenak argue with father for what seemed like an eternity, and then when father finally got annoyed enough, he attempted to pick Tenak up and carry him back into the house. Tenak raised his hands, and I heard him scream, "**LEAVE ME ALONE!**" I don't remember seeing or feeling the actual wind blades, but a split second after that, father's blood was everywhere. Mother shrieked so loud I swore she'd never speak again, rushing to his side; I would have. Yet I was watching Tenak. In hindsight I suppose in a sense I was challenging him, daring him to give me a reason to lash out at him as he had at our father._

_He looked right at me, and even though I couldn't see his face, I could feel it in his gaze; he'd seen the dark side of power first hand now, and he, despite (or perhaps in spite of) warnings not to, had built his entire existence around the gaining of it. Right before him, in a mere split second, his entire world had come crashing down._

_Too fast for me to realize until it was too late, Tenak spun around and shoved his little ship into the sea and hopped in. My body reacted before my mind did, immediately racing after him, but the tide was strong and I was only eight by then; it was too strong for me to reach the miniature ship before it sailed beyond my range. My father's words rang loudly in my mind. 'Those who are born first, Jadyka, come first so that they can protect and guide those who come after.' He meant, at the time, parents and grandparents, but in my mind it was also my duty as Tenak's elder brother to protect and guide him. Without second thought, ever the diligent son I suppose, I shot back for the shore and raced around the shoreline. I never did find him. Whichever direction he went, my guess is on toward the south pole, he was far beyond my help now._

_Perhaps, he always had been, even when he was right in front of me._

_Father did not survive that morning. He lived long enough to tell mother that he had set aside a good chunk of funds that would keep us floating for several months, but it wasn't enough to keep us going for much longer afterward. We gave him a simple funeral; it was all we could afford. On the same shore he died on, we tugged him into his favored fishing boat, set it aflame, and let it drift out to sea. I thought, maybe, just maybe, the sea people would guide him home. And so too in a sense did I hope, no, pray, that they would guide my brother home too._

_Even now, I still pray the sea people will guide him home._

* * *

**Notes:** This one I did not proofread before releasing because I felt like I needed to get past this chapter and onto the next one, so it is shorter than I intended and may very well be riddled with failure lol. I _**am**_ working on the next one already because I feel like I've jipped you guys too long. P= So, if my writing seems kind of off, again, I lost my notes and I am officially winging it. Yes, this entire thing is meant to be in italics - it is a memoir of sorts. Again, it'll click into place in time. I am not quite sure how long it will take at this point and this may actually end up longer in chapter number than I initially planned for but I'm sure no one's complaining.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed during my year long hiatus; I intended to return from it earlier than this but a stroke changed that a bit and I'm about three months late but hey I'm here. If anyone is curious, I've gotten back into school and am... actually rather busy anymore but I still find time to write. Ascension is open again for anyone who likes to (or would like to try, we're newbie friendly) role-play Avatar: The Last Airbender, it is set a half year after the end of the fall of Ozai, and is located at starlightforums[dot]tk/ascension. It is a part of Starlight Forums, a community for writers and artists, but if you join Ascension you're not obligated to join any other of the hosted RPs there or Starlight itself - I'm Asha over there.

This one is "Whisper", by Evanescence.


	11. How to Save a Life

_Previously on Like the Sun:  
_"Nah, Shin Yu, you have it backwards. He's my boy."  
"Dunderhead, he's after you!"  
"Damn it, Toph, DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE SHE DID!"  
"We have no choice. We have to abandon the mission and go to the Fire Nation capital."

**How to Save a Life**

**T**he tavern was not a most welcome of sights; being the man he was, Jiva tended to steer clear of any places within which people were at a high risk of being... ahh, unintelligent, in any sense of the word, and in his experience taverns tended to attract such near as easily as flowers attracted bees. Unfortunately he was well aware of the fact that, whether he liked it or not, this was where _he_ normally was. If Jiva was to find him, he needed to be where he could be found under most circumstance.

By this point, the Airbender had already scoured half the western side of the Earth Kingdom, checking every village he came across; surely the man would know better than to linger in Fire Nation territory and thus Jiva's first assumption was that he was somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. Unfortunately, what little of a lead (if one could even call that a lead to begin with) he had was turning out for nil. Now, he found himself oddly tempted to order one of those fiery drinks they called alcohol - for his own sake and that of his mental capacity, he'd refrain.

He said nothing, careful not to make eye contact with any of the tavern's patrons, instead shuffling to the bar. "Sir?" the bartender questioned, an older man but not quite past his forties, of course expecting the new patron to order a drink; instead, Jiva spared a glance from around the hooded cowl he had donned before crossing the Si Wong toward the other side of the bar. Pacified his target was not right underneath his nose, his amber gaze flicked back to the bartender.

"I am not here for a drink," he explained. "Instead I am looking for someone." His voice raised a slight bit, in hopes that the others within the establishment would hear him. They did; the din of voices hushed. "The Fire Lord is, more like, and he is offering a reward to the first who can tell him where that someone is. Five hundred gold pieces, of any nation's currency."

"Who ya lookin' fer?" The unrefined speech already told him he would likely not enjoy dealing with whoever that was; Jiva's gaze diverted anyway, coming to rest upon a plump man, unshaven and clearly at least partly drunk. Well considering he wanted answers, he'd best actually ask.

"Fei Xing." The din rose, whispers exchanged; most whom had not met the perplexing legendary figure believed him just that, a legend. The mere idea a man with such a testy temper truly did exist was both enthralling and worrisome at the same time; what's more, the Fire Lord himself sought such a man's counsel, presumably. Certainly the Fire Lord would not _truly_ be interested in anything that man had to say - his reputation preceded him yes, but he was known to be ill-tempered and uncontrollable, not remarkable in any other way. It certainly was not as though he had somehow been important during the war - if anything, he had been as if a stain on the Fire Nation army, causing as much damage to his own nation's forces as a small battle on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se may have.

Jiva understood this sentiment all too well. Yet, he was also aware, due to knowing the man personally, albeit not very well, that there was far more under that testy temper that most clearly did not see.

"I seen Fei Xing last week. Can' tell ya if 'e's still aroun'." Jiva's gaze again averted, this time to a thinner, younger-looking man a few tables over. It was a start; Jiva thought perhaps he shouldn't be too upset about the seeming lack of progress. Sure, he had been out here combing the Earth Kingdom as if the Fire Lord's personal hitman or similar, seeking out a man that, quite truthfully, Jiva never expected to see again. But one step was yet still better than none at all.

"Where at?"  
"Jus' outside Ranlei."  
"You are certain this was him?"  
"Tall, tan, gol' eyes, messy black 'air wi'red at th'ends?"  
"Aye, that was him."  
"Well'en m'sure now."

Jiva bit the awfully out of character snark back. "Which nation are you from?"  
"Earth."

"Then I thank you." Without another word, Jiva strode for the door, setting a pouch, all five hundred Earth Kingdom gold pieces he had promised within, onto the table the man was sitting at with a loud metal against wood clanking sound. The man in question had apparently not taken this promise seriously, as Jiva would be long gone before he or anyone else would recover from the shock of the Fire Lord _seriously_ wanting to find this man **that** much.

If he were not by now well acquainted with Fire Lord Zuko, Jiva would be too. It did not take a man that knew him well, however, to see the very clear distress. It was displayed so very readily across his features every time he had happened to visit Toph while Jiva was present, and it only grew worse each week that passed and still she did not awaken. The Airbender was in the same boat - so too was the rest of the Dai Li, half of whom had relocated to the Fire Nation's capital in hopes of keeping both Zuko and their Commander safe from that annoyance of an Airbender assassin - and unlike her, they could see him.

Jiva knew very well who that assassin was. His name was seared into his soul, had been for a long time, and likely always would be, regardless of the outcome of this war. Though Jiva would like to state that the man was a stain on his name, he knew better. His conscience knew better. He and Siwang went back - way far back, and it was unfortunate that it had finally come to this.

If Siwang continued to push him, continued to test him, he would earn himself the title of the first and only man Jiva ever killed.

* * *

**W**as he even here? That was a question Jiva was not certain he had an answer to. Sure enough, he had made his way over the course of an agonizingly long four days to the village of Ranlei. A quaint town, not unlike Peihua he mentally noted, but not particularly so low on the 'poor' scale either. The important part however is that, when the Airbender had asked around, he found his source's information was true and the Shooting Star had indeed been in this area within the last couple weeks. The only remaining problem was this; was he still here, and if he was not, where had he gone?

Under most circumstance, certainly less dire ones, Jiva could be endlessly patient. These days, it seemed that endless patience was beginning to wane and despite his upbringing of non-violence, he could not help but feel a rather strong urge to change tactic and instead hunt _Siwang_ down rather than the elusive man known only as Fei Xing.

He knew what it would mean, not only to himself but to many others, if he lost hope or gave in to that interest. Dim as it was, it was still there and each day that passed with no luck in locating the object of his search that interest grew marginally stronger. Some part of him believed he should have killed Siwang a long time ago, when he still had the chance; on the other side of the coin, how was he to know the boy would grow to become _this_? Surely, the Airbender was observant, yet he was no fortune-teller. Simply put, he was very good at reading signs and paying attention.

This was the eleventh tavern he had bothered to stop into in Ranlei, probably not the last, and if he were guessing within the correct range, upwards of the fiftieth tavern in all of Earth Kingdom territory. Truly, he had not known until this year just how many taverns there were in the Earth Kingdom alone. Yet he'd never had need of paying attention to such a minute detail.

Instead of asking around as he normally did, he had a seat off to the side, making sure to stay out of the way. If he simply kept to himself perhaps everyone else would leave him be as well, and in his experience, he had a lot more luck observing than diving in head first and asking around anyway. Jiva was a sidelines kind of man, someone who neither favored nor detested the proverbial spotlight, but if there was a way around said spotlight he would be more than happy to take it instead. An awkward trait perhaps, as Jiva was quite the diplomat and certainly wasn't terrible with people. He simply preferred his observation over active involvement.

All of this for a girl. True, she was a rather important girl; well, perhaps young woman was a more appropriate term. Jiva had eventually begun to think of her as a little sister, in a sense, but it was difficult for him to tell whether this had come about due to their bond, or merely out of guilt - it was perhaps born only from his blaming himself for an event that, at that age, he would have never seen coming and even if he did he was eight, what could he have honestly done?

Yet even knowing that, he continued to, at least inwardly, blame himself for the entire ordeal.

"I heard someone around here was looking for me," spoke a voice, just barely a whisper, to his right. Jiva didn't bother shifting around to face them - he already knew who it was. A similarly built man, about his age too, leaned against the table beside him.

"The Fire Lord wants to see you."  
Fei Xing snorted. "I haven't blown anything up recently. And for the record, Linqiu was not my fault."  
"I am certain it wasn't." Jiva's tone spoke more than his words - he truly was certain Linqiu was not his guest's fault. Linqiu had fallen to corruption and a riot had been the cause of the trouble, not a too-drunk Firebender with minimal control over his Firebending.  
"I actually have not blown anything up since... well since Nanliang."  
"He doesn't wish to see you about _that_, Fei Xing."  
"Hm. We never were properly introduced were we? Contrary to popular belief, Fei Xing is not actually my name."  
"I did not assume it was."  
"Suyis. My name is Suyis."

Only then did Jiva's amber gaze leave the table, flicking up to meet Fei Xing's own; and the barest of a smile crossed his features. "It is good to meet you then, Suyis."

"Your eyes are open." Jiva said nothing, only averting his gaze again. Suyis sighed, pulling a chair over and flopping rather heavily into it. He wasn't drunk - not yet. Perhaps later he would be. For a man like him, it was certainly startling news to hear the Fire Lord himself wanted to speak with him, and not about Linqiu _or_ Nanliang for that matter. No doubt, he'd need something to take the nervous edge off, even if it _was_ a dangerous endeavor for one of his explosive talents.

"You came all this way to talk to me, went through all the trouble of scanning the outer Earth Kingdom from Chameleon Bay to Mo Ce. There's a good reason why." Suyis had not _asked_; he knew there was a good reason, a very good reason, and he was not asking to know. In a sense perhaps he was demanding, but Suyis was just that kind of guy. Jiva had gotten used to it a long time ago and knew it to be his way, special as it was so to speak, of showing his interest and that he did indeed care. Suyis was an ex-Fire Nation soldier - of course he didn't care in the normal way. Military life, never mind his personal life before that, had never been kind to him.

That too was the country's fault.

"I presume you've heard of a young woman by the name of Toph Bei Fong?"  
Suyis snorted. "Who hasn't? Her reputation precedes her."  
"I know it does." Jiva paused a moment. "She is also the Fire Lord's best friend and, I believe, maybe someday may become the next Fire Lady."  
"Good for him, he needs a woman with her head on her shoulders."  
"She's sick."  
"... this... means coming after me because...?"

"Fire willow poison." He caught Suyis' wince from the corner of his eye. The latter was very well aware of what _that_ was, having been a part of the 47th Division; the very same Division half-way wiped out by fire willow poison. "Sometime last month. I've lost track of the days in recent weeks, but I do know myself to have left the Fire Nation capital in July."

"It's near October now." Very barely, Jiva resisted the urge to curse. Suyis' eyebrows drew together in thought. "So she came into contact with fire willow in July?"

"No, June. The capital's healers and medics halted its progression, but apparently weren't able to remove it from her system entirely. So long as she's at the capital, she'll be alright, but it's been months and she has yet to wake up and we're at a loss."

"Are you sure it was just fire willow?" Jiva's eyebrow arched upward. "Well I mean, sure there's the fire willow, her bending stopped right?" Jiva nodded. "See, so we know it _was_ in fact fire willow and not something meant to _appear_ like fire willow, which means there may be something else hiding underneath it; the fire willow may not be the problem in itself, it may be what it's hiding."

Quite honestly, Jiva had not thought of that. Jiva was, perhaps, still a bit naive on the inside; he tended to take many things at face value, even though he knew that really he shouldn't do anything of the sort. Rather abnormally, as Jiva was generally not one to do something like this, he turned his head to the side and let out several curses the Fire Nation's armada would be very proud of. "I told him you would be capable of deducing a solution. He also would like to formally request your assistance against the Silent Rose rebellion." It was Suyis' turn to curse.

Yes, he knew the Silent Rose; much to his disdain. He was certain at some point _someone_ would ask him, rather futilly, to join the fray, and he had been right though he had been wrong as to which side of the story it was that asked. Because that was how Suyis was, he'd join it. Jiva quirked an eyebrow upward, before adding, "He's willing to pardon all your charges and allow you to return to the Fire Nation, or go wherever it is you please, if you help him save Toph _and_ join his forces against his sister." Now Suyis **knew** Jiva had to be toying with him. He laughed, a strong hearty sound that came from the gut.

"Somehow my friend, I very much doubt the verity of that statement."

"It's true," Jiva pressed. "For Toph he'd let his father out of jail if it saved her life. I tell you, that man's positively smitten." The Airbender paused here, tugging a scroll out; he handed it to Suyis who unrolled it. There it was, in writing; his pardons and the removal of his status as an international criminal. All that was missing was the Fire Lord's seal. "If you'd like, he'll even build you a ship, Suyis. A **ship**, of your own, that you can do whatever you want with." Now, the infamous felon was most certainly staring.

Once, Suyis had actually owned a ship of his own. It wasn't anything fancy, something he'd built himself, very carefully over the course of several years. A tidal wave had destroyed it off the coast of one of the Fire Nation's islands, and he'd never managed to build another. A ship built with the resources the Fire Lord himself had, well now that would certainly be a beaut. Suyis had always wanted to rebuild his _Kyrie Eleison_. Perhaps now, there might be a chance of sailing the seas with her again.

"How much do you know about the rebellion?" he asked after a time, careful not to get excited and go on a sudden binge drinking fiasco. They were, after all, in a bar, with people in it, and he hated it every time he exploded into a flaming mess of destruction in a public location. Someone always, _always_, died.

"Not much," Jiva confessed, his features twisting up into thought. "What we do know is, they're led by Princess Azula, with the aims of breaking apart the Fire Nation's sovereignty, releasing the Phoenix King Ozai and restoring his crown. Ever since Zuko's crowning, they've been after his hide and have several, not just one, assassin at their disposal. One of them we have identified as Bao Siwang; the others remain unknown."

Suyis smiled, one of those smiles that said he was most _certainly_ up to something and it'd be best if you ran now. "I can handle Siwang."  
"You know him?"  
"Very well. We're not exactly buddies. This, my friend, will be fantastic."

Only Suyis would find a silver lining within the gathering storm clouds of war.

* * *

**I**t'd been too long since he'd heard her snide remarks and felt her tiny but deceptively powerful fist collide with his arm. Most days, he had to deal with so many different things at once and all those things combined together tended to force his mind from wondering whether she'd ever wake up again, if he'd ever get to tell her how much he loved the pale unseeing green of her eyes, how much he hated it when they were apart for longer than five minutes, how much it literally hurt not to have her within reach. There was the rebellion to deal with, on most days, and that kept him busy, despite his mother and his uncle both now being here to help. He had an army to prepare, plans to devise, funds to send out, contacts to speak to; Fire Lord Zuko did not have **time** to wallow in his mental slowness, how long it took him to realize just how much she meant at the end of the day.

But then the day always ended, and he always had far more time than he knew what to do with. And somehow the only thing he could ever find the will to do was sit right here in this very chair, and watch her chest rise and fall with the breath of one who may never again stare at him with those strikingly pale eyes like he's the most horribly oblivious idiot on the face of the planet.

Never once in all his time knowing her did he ever think he'd quite literally **miss** that look. Now that he thought about it again in hindsight, remembered just barely what it looked like and how it made him feel, Zuko realized that under all the harshness, under the sarcasm, she was telling him in her own way how much _he_ meant to _her_, and he'd never even realized it. Sure he knew, after all these years knowing her and learning her ways, that in reality she didn't really know how to show affection and thus did in the only way she knew. But he never really considered it, never really saw just how much stronger and more frequent those whacks were with him, how much more forceful those words were when spoken to him. She was screaming it at him and he hadn't heard until it was too damned late.

'_You shouldn't think that way, Lord Zuko,_' the melodic tones of Kozu's voice drifted through his head. '_You knew, you just weren't ready to face it then. I remember that._' He figured if anyone knew better than he did regarding that, it was likely her, the one who looked after his memories. Zuko didn't answer, afraid he'd say something stupid. The girl understood and did not push it; talking to Kozu had become so much more difficult now that Toph, someone Kozu resembled a good deal, was finally in a place Zuko couldn't honestly reach her. A light tapping sound, too gentle almost, came from the door, breaking his mental conversation. Judging from the gentleness, it was either Katara or Hakaea; what was with Water Tribe girls and being overly gentle? A heavy sigh slipped out of him, and he mumbled a half-hearted, "Come in." The door clicked open and - Katara, of course - the woman closed the door behind her.

She was nineteen now, the same age as Azula. The changes were so obvious; certainly, Katara had grown over the years, and so had Aang, now a young strapping lad of (physically anyway) seventeen. They'd married early no doubt, but in Water Tribe culture, it wasn't unheard of for girls to marry right when they reached sixteen. He gave her a flicker of a smile she didn't believe.

"How's everything here?" Katara sat in the chair next to him as she asked, blue eyes coming to rest on the still form of her friend. They were all worried, but he thought in a sense they believed they had no right to be outwardly concerned; no one was more afraid than he was. They knew it.  
"Nothing has changed," he answered flatly.  
"Any word from Jiva?"

The Airbender had been sent out to locate a certain Fire National a long time ago. It was nearing November by now. Jiva had left in July. And every day that passed, Zuko's resolve not to let this get to him, the fear, the inner turmoil, the self-blaming (if he just hadn't come and had sent Aang or someone else, maybe this would have never happened; fat chance. Life liked to be a bitch, especially, he thought, to him). In the end the only thing he served to do was build up extra resolve only to have it shattered by nightfall and him, scrambling to rebuild it before he broke. Oh how close he was to giving in and crying uncontrollably, screaming his lungs out, tearing something apart. He couldn't afford that right now. Not with Azula right outside his fucking walls and how the hell did **that** happen anyway?

"Nothing." Katara winced at the answer.  
"The Dai Li say there are Silent Rose members in the city." Even more good news to add to Zuko's already rather fine arsenal of good news. Katara offered a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "It's alright Zuko, we'll handle it if and when it becomes a problem."  
"What if it already _is_ a problem and we just haven't seen it yet? For all we know they could be gathering more supporters, right under our noses."  
"I know Zuko. I know it's frustrating, but you can't fall like this. Toph wouldn't want you to."

Their gazes shifted from each other to the young woman lying across from them; she seemed at peace, but they both knew better, much much better. It was unfortunate. Certainly everything, all of it, would be so much easier to handle if they believed her to be honestly and truly at peace. Her body told them differently. It was dying, slowly shutting down right in front of their eyes, and there was nothing either of them could do about it. And all the while, very quietly but nonetheless there, Zuko kept blaming himself over and over, as if the knowledge that this was **all** _oh so much his fault_ would make it all better. But he was a realist, a trait that was sometimes unfortunate, and he knew better.

"I know she wouldn't." And yet he fell anyway.

* * *

"**A**re we late for something important?"  
"The Fire Nation isn't quite as active anymore," Jiva answered, black leather boots clicking a path up the outside staircase. Suyis followed of course, taking in sights he likely had not seen in a very long time; the fact he was here at all was a testament to how much the Fire Nation had changed under Zuko. Of course, neither Jiva or Suyis doubted Zuko would be capable of doing far better than Ozai had, better than Azulon, than Sozin. The Airbender released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding as they passed the guards with no trouble.

"Why did we go around the side?" Suyis' question was well understood.  
"The Silent Rose. They blocked off the Gates of Azulon."  
"Well that's problematic." There was a sliver of giddiness in the Firebender's tone.  
"It's a challenge. They're waiting to see if Zuko has the guts to make the first move."

It was mid-November now. Already years since the Silent Rose itself had come to exist, and now near seven months since Commander Bei Fong had fallen victim to the Fire Willow, and near six since Jiva had left the capital in search of the explosive Fei Xing. The one thing that stuck in the Airbender's mind as he led the way through the stone halls, he hoped Zuko had not lost hope in his absence. Katara was rather skilled at keeping the group's collective spirits up, but in the face of the most terrifying fear a man could ever get slammed with, that of losing the one their heart had given itself to, well that was enough to reduce anyone to paranoid, shaking depression. And if his memory served him correctly, Zuko could sure as all hell become one heck of a downer when the tides turned on him.

In retrospect however, Jiva believed that there was still a chance 'Sparky' was still in there. After all, he'd gone down in history as the Fire Lord that ended the Great War, the greatest one since his great great grandfather, and hell, that meant he had a reputation to uphold. If there was anything that meant more to the Fire Lord than the Dai Li's rough and tumble Commander, it was his honor. And then came his friends and family. He wondered, ever so slightly but the curiosity was there, if Sparky realized his priorities had shifted and when. Then, Zuko was not stupid, if a bit slow on the processing at times, and maybe that was alright.

The Airbender came to a stop outside Zuko's study; he nearly reached out to push the door open, but instinct bade he do otherwise. His head told him there was nowhere else he could possibly be today but in here, yet his instinct told him the Fire Lord had indeed stolen off elsewhere, if only just to clear his head. Jiva often did the same throughout the day; his reasons were different of course, as he hadn't quite the same duties and troubles as Zuko did, but perhaps the idea itself was the same. He stared at the doorway a moment, gold eyes tracing the pattern of a pair of dragons etched into the wood of the door. Well, if Zuko wasn't even here, may as well make the best of it. He valued Zuko as a friend, a brother even in a sense, but he had no intention of wandering around looking for someone again. The Airbender had done enough of that the last five months.

"He's not here at the moment," Jiva finally spoke. Suyis seemed amused. "Come, we'll get some tea." Jiva turned away from the door and led the way back downstairs, toward the kitchens. After such a long journey, Jiva could certainly use a cup of tea, and better, they were in the Fire Nation capital, meaning it would also no doubt be _good_ tea at that. The poor excuse for tea they sold in taverns had just barely begun to fray at his sanity. Suyis followed without hesitation, expression somewhere between amused and interested. Well he was just that kind of guy. "I'm not certain where exactly he's run off to, so it may be nightfall before you get audience with him."

"Not particularly in a hurry Jiva," Suyis answered. "After all, he called me here not the other way around. He'll get around to it when he's ready, and I presume this past half year has been anything but easy."  
"I suppose it has."  
A gentle pause; Suyis thought about his words far more often around the Airbender than others. Even Jiva had yet to discern why, exactly. "What now then?"  
"We wait; I think it would be wise however to show you around. Can't have the newest Fire Nation General getting lost."

And at that, the volatile Firebender laughed. Such a sound had not been heard within the walls of the Fire Nation palace in a good long while. "I assure you, Fei Xing does not get _lost_," he intoned, amusement still lingering in the sound. "I do however take extended, mildly strange detours that would suggest I have no idea where I am."  
"We call that being lost, Suyis." And just there, in Jiva's own tone, was the tiniest bit of amusement.  
"Ahh, that's better Jiva," the Firebender responded, his tone softening a good deal. "It can't rain all the time."  
"No. I don't suppose it can."

* * *

**T**hey were up to something, he was sure. The last half a year had felt as though all of the great Fire Nation capital were hanging onto something, waiting with bated breath. Just what had they sent that annoyance off to go find? Mm, indeed, Siwang was very aware Jiva was not in the capital anymore; the sudden division happened too fast, however, for the assassin to figure out where it was exactly they had sent him, which direction he had gone in, and it certainly did not help the damned monk kept moving. Even if Siwang did perchance get a hold of his trail it was near entirely impossible to catch him; he was so like his kind, like their kind. Jiva was the wind, and Siwang was the boy trying to catch it in a jar.

And now after a full half year almost, he'd come back, and not alone either. To what end did the silly Fire Lord send Jiva after Fei Xing of all... idiots on the planet? If he was hoping the explosively tempered Firebender could rid them of _him_, they were sorely mistaken. Already, Siwang had crossed blades with him many times before, and each time ended the same way; with Fei Xing retreating. But you know what they say, run today to fight tomorrow. But perhaps if they had hoped this, it wasn't so bad; Siwang after all would quite enjoy another match against the Firebender. He existed for one reason and one reason only, whatever Princess Azula would prefer to believe - to kill, to fight, to dominate. And if that meant taking control of the Fire Nation and removing Azula from the picture (as underhanded as that was at the end of the day considering their perceived relationship, but hey, she kissed him first not the other way around; he didn't like girls. Not to say he liked men either, because he didn't like men either, he liked _power_, and lots of it and it just happened **she had it**), then by Agni he'd do it.

He was a god after all, and only gods could destroy a life so swiftly. Men believed they could, tried to repeatedly, but with every move Siwang made he wasn't just killing someone; he was showing someone else just how much power he had over them. The Dai Li Commander was a target for a reason; to two different men did she matter, even better a third and a fourth, _both_ of whom were rather important and thus also on the dominate list, and now that her life was just barely a wisp of what it once was, all that remained of it was a message.

_Surrender now, or I will destroy everything you've got._

He had just the right amount of resources by this point to do just that. And he knew, or rather could bet, exactly what Fire Lord Zuko would do. He thought he could defeat Siwang, defeat the Silent Rose rebellion, and restore peace to the world. The truth was, Siwang had already taken it upon himself to shake the foundation of the entire world down to its very core. _He was removing the Fire Nation sovereignty, one stick at a time_. And when he was done, he'd remove the Earth Kingdom's, and then the Water Tribe's. And when everything was in order, the entire world would be reunited under one banner. There would be no Earth Kingdom, no Water Tribe, no Fire Nation; just benders, and non-benders, all living in the same collective country.

Linhao no doubt thought him a madman, but then Linhao always thought him a madman. Someone of his _lower intelligence_ couldn't possibly understand Siwang's genius. For his brother, the man sure was dense.

Yet he did everything Siwang told him to anyway. Of course Siwang had always expected he would continue to follow orders blindly; Linhao was not a leader in the least, he was born and bred to be a follower, cannon fodder, if you would. It was just to his advantage that Siwang knew how to use his resources, each and every one, and to an extent he had even used the girl... Mai was it? She was meant to change her mind, Siwang could see the gears turning and feel her alliances shifting and she was _meant _to save that little blind bat from him that night. Yes, everyone was a pawn in his never ending games, though sometimes one might come to wonder whether or not Siwang _himself_ wasn't a pawn in his own game. If he had gotten so used to using others that he didn't realize he was using himself even.

Perhaps the truth went deeper than it seemed; far deeper.

Still he continued down his awkward power hungry path, oblivious to what exactly his true intentions were. And someday, he was sure he'd bring a swift sudden end to the Earthbender the same way he'd brought a swift sudden end to the Airbender's mother, willing to die for her son so much she purposely placed herself between Jiva and the air blades Siwang had thrown at him. And as she died she asked but one thing of her son and that was _do not kill him Jiva; you're not like him, so please don't end up like him later_. It became a game over time, a game Siwang played like one might play Mahjong or Pai Sho, to break that little Airbender annoyance like he had broken somewhere along the line and make him just like him. And if he had to, no he did because nothing else Siwang could do would push against Jiva's sanity so harshly, he would undoubtedly destroy that damnable Earthbender that kept standing in his way, that kept dragging that man back from the edges of the insanity Siwang so fervently pushed him toward.

"Siwang dear? You're staring again." Azula's voice shook him out of his reverie. Slate gray eyes stared at her for but a moment before his gaze flicked back to the capital city; how proudly it stood, but it would not remain standing so proudly for long. Unfortunately for the residents of the city, **god** had come to mete out justice.

"I want to lead an invasion, my love."  
"Whatever for?"  
"To prove to them we're not done yet."

_Never forget, Jiva. Never forget that you are __**alive**_.

* * *

"**H**er body's in stasis," the wild man said after a few moments. Normally, Zuko would be questioning his intelligence right about now, letting _that man_ into the capital, but he'd already hit rock bottom a long time ago. The fall didn't hurt so much if you were already on the ground. Besides, Fei Xing couldn't possibly be much worse than the Silent Rose was proving to be, and had Jiva's rather adamant recommendations that so sharply contrasted everything he himself knew about Fei Xing. Then, everything Zuko knew was all hearsay anyhow; he knew better than to truly believe everything he heard.

"Stasis?" Of course Katara would ask first.  
"It's a mix of different herbs and minerals that slows the body's functions and effectively knocks one into a coma. There's a way to undo it, another set of herbs and minerals. In layman's terms, Siwang put her brain to sleep."  
"That sounds -"  
"Horrible, I know," Suyis interrupted him, patting the Fire Lord's arm. "She'll be fine as long as you don't... you know do something stupid like attempt to forcefully wake her up, the shock might shut her brain down entirely and then she'll _never_ wake up."

_This is all my fault._

The only thing he could manage to think throughout the entirety of that rather short, also rather blunt, explanation was that this was _all his fault_. That said, he'd been thinking such a thing near non-stop the last half year, ever since she fell into the black nothing in his arms and never woke back up. But, being a realist, he knew very well there was nothing for it - no amount of blaming himself for the condition of which she now seemingly slept in would make it better and he knew that, he **knew that**, but it didn't stop him. Then it never really did anyway. More so than his father was ever really hard on him, he was very much hard on him_self_, his father was just easier to blame (or was he?). Zuko knew the truth. Few others did too and assumed it was just Ozai's memory tormenting the young man into once again believing himself as helpless as he'd believed he was then, five, no near six now, years ago.

But the truth was he tormented himself, and Futo, _that man_ in **his soul**, was the very proof of that, if a shard of one's imagination (was it really his imagination? Perhaps he'd whacked his head on his bed frame one night and never realized it) could be taken as proof of _anything_ aside from one's insanity. Or, overactive imagination even, if one wished to think of it that way.

Then he'd also realized, despite a part of his father always being a part of him, he'd slowly begun to replace that man with another. His uncle had always been far too patient with him he thought, considering how many times Zuko had let him down, had turned his back on him, and yet Iroh did not budge. He remained right where he had always been, beside his nephew, and it was that connection that had begun saving him from the dark - okay, now he sounded angsty. Not to imply he wasn't.

And then he realized, he'd had a father all along, he'd just been too focused on the one that _should have been_ and didn't even see the one that **was**. At least he hadn't remained blind until it was entirely too late. He'd never have forgiven himself if he had, and no amount of patting and whispering and hugging his mother could come up with would fix that. Zuko's mother was the perfect noblewoman; she had the entire thing down, from the graceful appearance to the soft-spoken demeanor, to the way she glanced at people sometimes as if sizing them up, daring them to do... _what_ exactly, Zuko never figured out. She was such a contrast to Toph it was hard to see them living in the same building let alone being a part of the same family - when exactly had he started thinking about marrying the girl anyway? - but he thought, like the sun and the moon, the two complimented one another very well. And he knew, his life wouldn't quite be complete if there was one missing.

It startled him sometimes, to realize _exactly_ how much he'd come to depend on her, that rough and snide Earthbender always more than happy to sock you in the arm.

'_You have for a long time now,_' Kozu whispered. '_Even before the War was over. Do you remember?_' She knew he did. And yes, he did remember, very well. She always knew exactly what to say to him; sometimes it stung, what she chose to say, but when he got over his wounded pride long enough to really honestly _think_ about it, he always realized just how right she really was. Toph had come to know him almost better than he knew himself. '_You know her the same. And in her, you know. You know everything you're doing is for the best, because if it wasn't she would have long ago smacked you upside the head and told you so. In her, you find justification, balance, stability. Something you never had then._'

It felt weird to have that spelled out by a fragment of his own soul.

He drew in a breath. "You are aware of which, exactly, herbs and minerals it will take to wake her up?"  
"Yes," Suyis immediately answered. He was waiting for the Fire Lord to ask that. "Unfortunately..."  
"Unfortunately what?"  
"The Silent Rose is squatting right on the only place to get them. We have to plow through them first, preferably without destroying the land in the process or what we're after we'll have to wait a whole extra year to get a hold of."  
"... right then." Zuko bent over, letting his forehead rest on his fists; now wasn't the time to get emotional, he could do that when she woke up, because if he got emotional _now_, she might never do that. He wasn't sure he could handle that.

"If I may," Jiva began, his tone cautious, "we should take Siwang out first."  
"Aside from him being the one that caused all this crap, why?" Katara asked. Jiva smiled at her, very briefly; he was back to closing his eyes and smiling it seemed, now that his previous goal had been achieved.  
"He is Azula's war commander. She isn't mentally stable enough to command their forces herself so she appointed him to the task. Without a strong leader, it'll start crumbling on its own."  
"Unless they're expecting that and have a backup plan," Sokka mumbled.  
"True enough. But it's the best shot we've got without igniting a full-on war. Or did you forget full-on wars tend to destroy things, like flora?" Despite the words themselves, Jiva's tone was patient, not condescending. Sokka was grateful for it. It was always the quiet ones. _Always_.

"We can't afford to do this," Aang mumbled. Instead of Jiva, however, it was Suyis that answered the Avatar.  
"Like he said, it's the best shot we have. And when it starts crumbling from the inside, that's when we start picking it apart from the outside as well. It's the easiest way to manage it without totally screwing everything up."  
"I want you leading the forces against them," Zuko stated suddenly. The Firebender just nodded.  
"I know. I will."

"How are we going to know which herbs we're after?" Katara asked, her tone thoughtful. Everyone else had been wondering the same thing; only one person in the room knew which herbs exactly they were after.  
"... slight change in plans then," Suyis started. "Alright, I need someone to distract them; maybe the Dai Li would be willing to cause a commotion but I want backup for them just in case something goes wrong and we can't manage it... wait no that's too obvious never mind. I will go in alone and -"  
"Out of the question," Zuko interrupted. He wouldn't be easily losing him either, because Suyis was the only one that knew how to counteract Siwang's poison.  
"Hmph, well too bad for you, short of arresting me there's not much you can do to stop me. If I can get in there and make them think I'm on their side, I can probably get to the herbs we need with little trouble and come back with again little trouble."

"That's so risky," Hakaea breathed. He knew it was; the Firebender sighed.  
"We keep plan one as backup. But it seems far too obvious to cause a distraction for an infiltration mission; Siwang would expect it. He's a psychopath, yes, but not an idiot. Unfortunately, if he were I would have killed him a long time ago."  
"You and me both," Jiva admitted, so quiet only Suyis could hear; the Airbender had probably meant it to happen that way.  
"Are we in agreement?" A few tense moments after Suyis asked, the group nodded. "Then so help us Agni."

* * *

**N**ightly rounds were setup among the Dai Li; several of the Lieutenants and Commanders were present in the Fire Nation's capital, the rest waiting in the Earth Kingdom capital and holding the homefront, but all the action was centered around here instead. The Silent Rose was too silent; much too silent, considering everything the Fire Nation resistance knew about them. Their name seemed a bit ironic as they caused a bit of a ruckus wherever they were, drawing attention to the fact they were there. Whether that was intentional or merely because Azula was incapable of being much more than loud anymore in her fragile mental state remained to be seen. Jiva could bet near everything he had, and though it wasn't a lot it was again all he had, that they were planning something.

He knew Siwang too well to assume otherwise.

In all honesty, the Airbender wished he didn't. In a sense, Jiva didn't want to know him that well, but the fact was he did, and he likely always would, no matter how much he tried to drive the knowledge, the unbearable _pain_, away. After all, he said his name was seared forever into his soul, but the truth went deeper than that, and the truth was there was far more than just that man's name seared into his soul. There were plenty of things related to that demonic excuse for a human being seared forever into his soul. Above all, it was those things that were seared into his soul that made him so thoroughly adamant about the mere idea - Jiva would **not** allow Siwang anywhere _near_ Toph ever again, it truly was as simple as that.

Siwang would not really expect it. Never had Jiva been quite so adamant, so thoroughly sure about anything in his entire life until now. He was the one that, at first glance, appeared to have a very good idea of who he was, what he was doing and where he was going but in reality, he was just a lost little boy making up for it in any way he knew how. Simply, the Airbender was merely very good at hiding the uncertainty and the wavering stability. Yet when he stopped and thought about it, there was also a chance, slim as it was, that Siwang already knew that and it was that exact trait of his that he was attempting to turn against him.

The Great War had been waged with fire, blood and steel. This one was being waged with acidic words, underhanded tricks and well-placed tactic. It was a war Jiva was not used to waging, but he knew Siwang was and therein lie the truth - he had the upper hand, regardless of what they thought. After all, that man was right smack in the middle of his own element and they were merely along for the ride, praying and hoping that they were doing the right thing, yet never really knowing for sure until it was surely too late to change paths. While it would be nice of course to assume they had the advantage, and truly it'd be nice if they did, Jiva knew better. And he was afraid, in a sense, of this being exactly what Siwang wanted them to do.

Yet neither could he truly afford to doubt himself, or his instincts. Never had they really led him astray, the one thing Jiva could truly depend upon at the end of the day and his instincts told him _Siwang was up to something_, and whatever that something was, it did not bode very well for the future.

It was his turn to play guard. Jiva did not mind it, finding such an activity to be more relaxing than anything, wandering about the halls of the Fire Nation's palace, dim amber eyes always searching out hints that there was but the slightest thing amiss. Jiva always had been the diligent son, and even now that trait stuck; old habits died hard, he assumed, and this notion did not particularly surprise the Airbender. True, he may have much rather been elsewhere, perhaps meditating at a time like this, as certainly this entire rebellion had shaken him near to the core, but his duty first and foremost was to his Commander, and she needed him now more than ever.

He would not fail her like he had his Master.  
He would not fail her like he had his mother.  
He would not fail her like he had his best friend.  
He would **not**_** fail her**_. It was, quite simply, not an option.

Silent, he rounded a corner, only to near smack into Hakaea. Were he any less the man he was, Jiva would have squeaked in surprise, but instead all he did was stop abruptly and let out a rush of air. He had thought her long asleep; then, his agitation tended to cause her some measure of the same. That was what love meant, he thought, despite it bothering him on some level or another. Yet instead, his surprise soon enough melted into a calm smile.

"I would have assumed you long caught in the grasp of the dream faeries."

She returned his smile, easier than his, less strained though the strain was still there. She was worried about him; he'd been acting so very strange since the rebellion had become a large enough problem that Zuko himself had chosen to come deal with it personally. And just there underneath the serenity his gaze always gave off in her memory, she saw a flicker of fear, and more than anything that scared her. Jiva was never afraid of anything; at first she thought it merely fear for the well-being of his Commander but the more she watched him, the more she believed it was something else.

"I should have been a long time ago, I'm sure," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Her dark hand slid into one of his, threaded their fingers together, light and dark, dusk and dawn. "Maybe you should have requested Haru take this shift instead."  
"No," he answered, almost immediately. "I'm not sure what, but Siwang is up to something. I can feel it. Any move he makes is near always made at night, and Haru wouldn't quite know how to deal with him; he thinks he knows but really he knows nothing at all."  
"And how is it you know so much?"

His gaze flicked up to hers; and for a moment she saw more than just fear, she saw pain, and a hatred that burned so fierce and hot she wasn't even certain he himself knew it was there. Yet this man had never struck her as the type that could, even subconsciously, hate someone so terribly. Hakaea's gaze softened, her free hand reaching up to brush a thread of white from those eyes. She wanted in there, to know what was going on in his head, but perhaps in the end she was just some silly girl from a tiny village that couldn't _ever _really understand him after all. And more than the fear and the pain and the hate in his eyes, that scared her most.

"You'll understand someday, I think," was all the explanation he offered. Blue gaze fell to the floor; the hue of the stone under them made it appear cold, and perhaps it was to the touch. Like he seemed to be becoming over time, the longer they fought this damnable rebellion.

_What is it, Jiva? What is it that hurt you so much?_

Yet maybe in the end she really didn't want to know at all. A peaceful smile, not forced but not fully there either, crossed his features, and he tapped under her chin very gently, a motion that signaled he wanted her to look at him again. So, she did. In all things, she trusted this man more than she trusted her own self at times. "And even if you don't, just know this," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her in a gentle embrace. "I'll always love you. But there are some things I just have to face and overcome for myself. No one can fight those battles for me, Hakaea. And I wouldn't ask anyone to try, or want them to. I fight my own fights, and this, above all, concerns no one but him, and me. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm not him, after all."

She gave a little sigh, pulling him closer, fingers wrapping around the fabric of his shirt, as if she were afraid if she let go he'd float away and never come back. "I know you're not," she whispered. "I'm here Jiva. If you need me, please talk to me. I'll always be here. You're not alone anymore."

"I know I'm not. It means the world to me."

* * *

**S**he'd gone, after much prodding and a good deal of time spent clinging to his shirt. As much as he knew he had people now, people that meant a lot to him, none of them would really understand. They'd sympathize, he knew, but never would they really and truly understand what it was to be him at this point. They didn't know what it felt like, they hadn't been there, they hadn't screamed and cried with him. All they could do was hear it, and know that there was a lot more to this one than he ever let on; yet some of them knew that already. Suyis was the first to point it out, when they'd first met.

_You're all kinds of tense.  
__It comes from habit.  
__You've been burned Jiva. Something reached in, snagged your heart and burned it.  
__... I suppose it has.  
__But you're you. _He'd laughed, lightheartedly, but Jiva could hear the pain laced through the laughter. _You'll be alright. Trust in yourself, above all else, trust yourself._

And he, too, was the one that had sent him to her.

_I wish to train under you.  
__... you don't look like you're from around here.  
__I'm not, Master Xia Lin.  
__Please, such formality. Unless we're out there practicing your kata you'll call me Xia. That sounds better doesn't it?_

Xia Lin was the first to accept him exactly as he was without question. And he'd been unbearably grateful for it. She'd asked no questions, simply took him in; at the time he was a wandering mercenary (more of a wandering guard for hire), using his rather basic understanding of spear techniques but quickly learned that the techniques he used for fishing were not quite applicable in the middle of a scrap with bandits. Suyis had told him of a woman named Xia Lin; she'd been a General in the Fire Nation army, and for whatever reason, had left the army and come to Ba Sing Se. That alone made Jiva respect her; she'd had the nerve to go against the sovereignty when it was wrong and had come all the way across the world in search of a new beginning. Suyis had told him to ask her to teach him the way of the sword, so that he'd become much better at defending those around him, and himself.

He trained with her for years. But more than she taught him sword techniques she taught him many other things as well, things about him he'd never known were there. As much as his mother had shaped who he was, so too did Master Xia Lin, and never would he ever think about her as anything less than his Master. She heard the voices in the wind, the laughing in the river, and was never afraid to die. Even if there were no ballads written or statues built in her name, she would always be a hero to him.

Then one day he'd left the capital, a small escort job he was more than capable of handling; and when he'd come back, she was lying on the floor of her apartment, a teacup in her hand, already several days among the spirits. Siwang had poisoned her, he deduced; he later heard confirmation straight from the horse's mouth. Jiva never did think Siwang could have defeated her the normal way. He was too chaotic and she was too refined, too focused, made of a very different kind of chaos than he.

_Have you mastered the sword?  
__... I think so, yes.  
__Good. And now it is time to master yourself.  
__And... how do I do that?  
__Listen, Jiva. __The world around you is only an extension of yourself. Things are not so different as they may seem, not detached as they appear. Everything is connected. Even life and death, which at first glance appear to be two different things are in fact the same. Once you master yourself, you have mastered all that you need to. And when you do, that is a victory that not even heaven or hell can tear away from you._

Suyis was deceptively intelligent, though of course Jiva had figured that out very early. And with his help, he'd overcome the sadness and the fear and the raw undeniable _pain_ at losing his mother, and then his Master, to the same person. But he knew. He knew then, and of course he knew now and nothing could make someone un-know something (barring a good hard whack upside the head with something heavy, provided one was lucky, and yet unlucky too). Siwang had taken away everything and everyone that had gotten close to the other Airbender, and he knew; it was only a matter of time until he came after Toph too, someone Jiva had slowly come to see as a little sister that he'd never had. He'd never told Toph about Hakaea, never told anyone, though they'd known each other off and on and that knowing eventually became something else and it _scared him_. It was hard enough, keeping Siwang away from Toph, and he'd never, _ever, __**ever**_, forgive himself if he lost **one more person** he cared about to him.

Suyis was one thing; he was more than capable of taking care of himself. But Hakaea was not. Not against a master Airbender. Not against a trained swordsman. Not against a psychopath willing to do anything and everything he possibly could to end her right then and there. And so yet again, he'd found himself running, trying to keep a hold of the few things he had remaining that mattered in the face of his own personal nightmare.

But no more running; not this time. No, never again would Jiva turn tail and run for fear of Bao Siwang. That thought pounded itself through his head non-stop as he stared at the shadow upon the floor; just behind that pillar, was the very man in question. _How did he get in here._ Well, this was Siwang after all. He'd found some way no doubt and the hows didn't particularly matter. Careful not to give away the knowledge that he knew he was there, Jiva turned away on purpose, continuing down the hall.

A very slight rustling, but Jiva heard it, and Siwang bolted for the stairs - he was after Toph again. Immediately, Jiva whipped around and pulled at the air; Siwang crashed into the wall, sliding down the stone and thunking rather loudly onto the floor. And then he laughed.

"So, you knew I was there."  
"You're not exactly discreet, bastard," Jiva hissed. His target's gray eyes lit up, apparently with happiness of some kind. _Yes, you __**would**__ find my tone unbearably amusing._ Jiva remained silent, circling around to block the path to the stairs with himself; Siwang was not getting up those god damn stairs, even if Jiva died right here.

_You are my enemy. I am sorry it has come to this and I am sorry I am thinking like this mother, but this has gone on too long. You, Siwang, are my enemy._

The other stood, nonchalantly brushing himself off. He seemed entirely disinterested but Jiva knew better. He was amused. He saw it, in his eyes, even in the dim light he saw the amusement, the thrill of battle, could practically _feel_ the adrenaline rushing through the other's veins. Or maybe that was his own adrenaline.  
"You always stand in my way. Why must you be such a **pain**."  
"You're not getting up these stairs."  
"Oh?" Siwang's tone shifted, the giddiness bleeding through. Like a child whom had just received his first gift. "And who is going to stop me, exactly? From what I remember you're no good at this sort of thing; you can't even bring yourself to draw your blade on me. It's been several years now, but I doubt anything has changed. You're a spineless, cowardly, horrible excuse for a man, and you know it. So why do you insist on pretending otherwise?"

"You're wrong." A metallic _shink_, and Jiva drew his blade, the same one Toph herself had forged. He would not lose this time. There was too much at stake if he did. When it was just them, perhaps he could have dealt with it, this never ending game of who can hurt the other the most, how much can Jiva _really stand_. It had gone too far now; there were others involved. He wouldn't sit by and let Siwang rip apart the entire world, no matter how much it hurt to draw his blade against him by fucking **god** he'd do it. He had no choice. He'd waited far too long, prayed and hoped and cried far too long.

"This is the end now Siwang." Jiva shifted, sliding effortlessly into the stance Xia Lin had taught him, the lessons in swordsmanship she'd drilled into his head coming flooding back all at once. It was now or never. Who knew when the next chance to end this would come along, and Jiva wouldn't let it slip by. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this anymore, brother."

_You are my enemy. And if I am going to die, I will **take you with me**._

* * *

_**Notes:**_ Well here it is finally. lol I know I ended this on such a horrible oh my god are you **seriously ending it right there?** kind of note, but heh, we all know me, I enjoy that and this... is actually somewhere around eleven **thousand** words, so I figured I should um... like, not overwhelm you guys. I know it's probably a bit of a disappointment because the actual ToKo isn't... technically in this one, and ahh got a bit Jiva-centric on me (also, meet my first character **ever**, Suyis, I made him when I was like, 9; he's based off my dad if you wanna know), and you're probably way pissed at me for knocking Toph out like that... But the relationship between Siwang and Jiva is a very driving force in the background of this entire fanfic so I felt that was marginally important to explain and, hey, there's still some romance in here. Sad romance but still.

Why yes, yes Siwang IS a psychopathic megalomaniac freak, but hey, gotta love him. Not really.

Well, being as I have been up literally all night flipping between writing this and doing my World History essays, I will now tra li la off to bed. Yes. Expect lots of tension next go, and we're steadily reaching our close. This one is "How to Save a Life" by The Fray. Seems kind of off, considering this is the one in which my pacifist gets into a fight... kind of a calm selection for that kind of tension but the explanation of why I did it anyway is in the lyrics.

Also, as a side note, I happen to have found the original outlines for this. ... and I tell you, **man** I went it a totally different direction xD


	12. Killing in the Name

_Previously on Like the Sun:  
_"For Toph he'd let his father out of jail if it saved her life. I tell you, that man's positively smitten."  
"I know Zuko. I know it's frustrating, but you can't fall like this. Toph wouldn't want you to."  
"It's a challenge. They're waiting to see if Zuko has the guts to make the first move."  
"I want to lead an invasion, my love."  
"Without a strong leader, it'll start crumbling on its own."  
"I'm here Jiva. If you need me, please talk to me. I'll always be here. You're not alone anymore."  
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this anymore, brother."

**Killing in the Name**

"**W**hy are you coming with me again? Remind me why I agreed to this. Logically, I should not have agreed to this." A pause, as the Firebender fought with his boots for a moment. "Aang, seriously, tell him he's nuts!"  
"You're nuts." The Airbender didn't even bother glancing up from his work, currently occupied with repairing one of Zuko's shirts, mostly because it was preferable if it was repaired before they left. When did the Avatar get so _domestic_ anyway?  
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Zuko grumbled.

"I mean seriously, **why did I agree to this**," Suyis reiterated. A loud thunk sounded as he fell off the chair, still fighting to get his boots on, and hit the floor. Hakaea let out a giggle at him; at least _someone_ found his precarious situation amusing. When had his boots started **hating** him?  
"Hey, you can't just traipse off into enemy territory and play hero. **I**, me, Fire Lord Zuko, am the knight in flaming ticked off, okay? So you're not allowed to play hero cause she's _my girlfriend_, not yours, I have now said my piece."  
"Chill, Sparky boy, I'm not threatening your manhood," Suyis said, arching an eyebrow upward. "I am however highly questioning the intelligence of allowing the _**Fire Lord**_ into enemy territory. They're after **you**, not me; besides that I'm cannon fodder, no one cares."  
"Jiva does," Hakaea interrupted.  
"Besides the point. And I know he does."

Actually, the criminal found such a thing to be a serious issue rather than something he took delight in. After all, if Jiva didn't care, then Suyis wouldn't care either, and he'd therefore have no viable reason to be overly cautious and could do this his way. His way being with lots of fire and blood and clash clang KABOOM. Such a way of handling things did not tend to lend toward survival rates. Suyis himself did not care much; as he'd said, he was cannon fodder. The only person that could make him give a damn about _anything_ in all the nations was Jiva, and generally this meant whatever mattered to Jiva also mattered to Suyis and that's where his rather suicidal tactics got complicated.

"And when did we go from sighing like a silly teenage girl to 'she's my girlfriend'?"  
"A minute ago, when 'she's my crush' didn't quite get the point across the way I wanted it to." Zuko paused. "And I was **not** sighing like a silly teenage girl."  
"You keep tellin' yourself that Spark-o-matic."  
"Give me those," Hakaea muttered, stepping over and pulling Suyis' boots on for him. Apparently, she had stood off to the side watching him fight with them long enough in her opinion. Not that Suyis was complaining too much; they were certainly not being very nice to him.

"Thank ya, Princess."  
Hakaea just snickered. "No problem."  
"Could you stop flirting long enough to take me seriously?" Zuko interrupted. Suyis just rolled his eyes, falling backward onto the floor (at least it was on purpose this time).  
"I got the gist, I can tune you out now. See Zuko. Zuko is Fire Lord. Fire Lord has enemies. See Fire Lord run right into their territory **FOR A GIRL**. And die. Presumably. See Fire Nation crumble."  
"Ass."  
"Hey, only when it's funny, and for your information, I'm not stupid enough to flirt with my best friend's girl. Jiva would _stare at me_. With that **look**, that 'dude you so let me down' look. That's worse than constant physical torture and castration."

No one wanted to ask how he could say that with such certainty.

"The point remains," Zuko said quickly, intent on changing the subject now. "And you can't exactly stop me either."  
"No, but I know a couple people that **can**." Suyis' tone lilted upward at the end. "You're doing that self-blaming thing about now aren't you?"  
"I **did** get her in this mess, and you weren't there so you can't say I didn't."  
"You didn't."  
"I just said -"  
"Ah, shh." Suyis held his hand up, causing the other Firebender to stare at him like he'd lost his mind. Well, Suyis _was_ a rather brazen fellow. That was just his way. "Did _you_ get the poison? Did _you_ coat the throwing knives in it? Did _you_ throw them? Did _you_ make her shield you? No. No you didn't. Therefore, it is not your fault, your opinion is now voided, judgment overruled, jury dismissed, case closed, the Suyis Court is now out of session."

"Did he just shush me...?"  
"He has a point Zuko," Katara agreed. "Multiple points, actually."  
"You're actually siding with him?"  
"This isn't about siding with anyone. This is about a war, right under our noses, about to explode into mass proportions, and **you**, the only one keeping your nation _together_, wanting to march right out into the middle of it all." She sighed, flopping down to sit next to him, blue eyes on her hands. "I know you feel bad about Toph and everything and you want to go help save her and all that, but maybe it's really not the most intelligent of your decisions." She paused, reaching around him and giving him a rather motherly hug. "Sometimes Zuko, the most amazing of heroes are the ones that choose neutral jing instead."

Agh neutral jing. He so hated Bumi now. Or maybe it wasn't really Bumi he should hate and more Earthbending in general; he was marginally biased in that respect and couldn't quite find it in him to hate Earthbending, even a little.

"How can someone make an **art** out of _doing nothing_."  
"It's not _doing nothing_," Suyis insisted. "It's the art of picking your damn battles and not getting yourself **killed** that's what it is, something you, my hotheaded friend, could stand to start implementing." A blur of black and red; Zuko zipped with startling speed and accuracy from his place off to the side to Suyis' side, tearing the man off the floor by his collar and slamming him into the wall.  
His tone was very low. "Do you know what it's like being stuck behind pretty posh stone walls while someone that means the world to you withers away into nothing right before your eyes? Knowing there's nothing you can do because you're **stuck there**?"

"Yes, actually," Suyis answered, just as lowly, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden violation of his personal space bubble. Zuko's nose was almost touching his, and yet like a proper steeled warrior, Suyis didn't even flinch. "And I am the one that killed her. I know what you're feeling. But that doesn't mean make stupid decisions. Do you know what Jiva's been teaching you?" Surprise flickered across Zuko's features; he had not told anyone Jiva was teaching him _anything_, actually.

"I know Jiva very well, Zuko. Much better than you know him, and I know that he has been teaching you and I know what that is and why. He's teaching you to listen to something besides the fear and the pain and right now, with all due respect, _you're failing_. Not him, however; **yourself**."

No one even breathed for what seemed like forever. At length, the Fire Lord let him go; he didn't slide down the wall and thunk into the floor, instead having already braced himself for it and stood. Carefully, he brushed himself off, readjusting his shirt, and his gaze, so like Jiva's it was unnerving, flicked up to watch Zuko. "You're staying right here and handling the Dai Li. I know Siwang too well as a side bonus to assume he's sitting on his laurels. Someone has to hold the homefront, _someone_ has to watch the palace and make sure he doesn't slip in and finish the job while we're out there risking our necks. Do you understand the weight of a task like that?"  
"Yes."  
"Good," Suyis answered. He paused a moment, and when he spoke again the normal slightly dense cheer was back in his tone. "Well now that Hakaea made my boots stop hating me I think we can -" A loud crash from down the stairs interrupted him, followed by a loud howling sound.

"Airbending." Everyone knew Jiva didn't practice in the palace, no matter how dire the circumstance. There was someone else down there with him. Hakaea immediately tensed and shot for the door, only to get caught around the waist by Suyis; he handed her to Zuko.

"He doesn't need a distraction. Aang, Katara, head downstairs but keep out of sight, only interfere if he needs the help, as in on his literal last leg needs the help, Zuko, stay here and help Haru manage the Dai Li and do **not**, do anything stupid while I'm gone, you know what I mean, Sokka, follow me. We've got work to do."

* * *

_**Crash!**_ A roundhouse kick that had whacked into the wall rather than Siwang as intended. Jiva shifted and ducked, just barely out of the way of Siwang's blade, and pushed off from the wall to crash into his opponent's knees. The other released a loud shriek and slid across the floor for a couple inches before falling, rolling the rest of the way to a stop. At first, Jiva thought he'd remain there, had given up, but he knew better than to take anything Siwang said or did at face value; his muscles never relaxed, amber gaze trained upon his opponent. The lower two stairs had been destroyed by now, never mind the walls around them, broken and falling apart.

Zuko wouldn't mind much, Jiva was sure, considering the reason for the fight to begin with, but he still felt a bit unsettled about destroying someone else's palace. This thing looked as though it had cost a fortune to construct.

His gaze narrowed, and Siwang stood, using Airbending to make the motion quicker, and lunged; the blade aimed at his heart, yet at the last second Jiva shifted down, a thin streak of red manifesting across his cheek, and swiped the air with his arm. An air blade sent Siwang crashing back into the wall for about the thirtieth time in the last fifteen minutes, and certainly that would not be the last time either. To an outsider, it would appear as if Jiva were winning, but he knew better; Siwang was testing him. This would get nasty, much nastier than it already was, before it was anywhere near over and a winner could be determined.

"Why did you call me that?"

It had taken long enough for him to start wondering that particular point. There was a good reason Jiva had called him 'brother' and it had nothing to do with any sort of attachment to the man; actually, Jiva was fairly certain he did **not** like Siwang, because if he did, then he was a hell of a masochist and did not realize it. The other chose to answer with silence; he knew Siwang would not welcome not understanding something for once and perhaps that fact may be enough to give him an advantage. Siwang stood, throwing several darts; Jiva just sliced the air with his blade, sending out air turbulence that knocked the darts off course, and Siwang back on his rear. He had yet to decide to take Jiva seriously, and that would most likely end in his defeat if he didn't change his dance soon.

"What does it _**mean**_?"

He could sense the confusion in the other's tone. Even so, he had no intention of explaining what he meant. There was no point. That had been a long time ago, and it certainly did not hold true today. Before him was a man of cruel calculations and disregard for not only the laws of society but the true value of life, and death. Jiva believed that, by killing others for ill-formed reasons, not only was Siwang violating life, but also death itself. Yet he also believed the man was aware of that, and chose to do it anyway; as much as Jiva was against fighting like this, against harming another living creature, there was nothing for it. Siwang had to be stopped, and it seemed fate had decided that was his job now. It was a duty that, while reluctantly, he would take without real question.

"Back to silence are we?"  
Jiva snorted, ever so quietly, shifted his weight. "There is nothing to be said. I think the words explained themselves well enough, you're just denying the reality of it."  
"Bullshit."

An amber gaze narrowed; while he didn't honestly believe Siwang would take to the idea so quickly, and therefore was not surprised by that reaction, it did make one wonder. Did he even remember at all? There was a chance he didn't, and that was why he denied it. Jiva had suspected as much, a long time ago, and yet only now was beginning to understand the truth in his theories. Perhaps that was best. Being slain by one's archenemy rather than one's brother was much better in the long run, and despite harboring a strong dislike of the man he'd once called his brother, Jiva couldn't deny a sense of relief, knowing that Siwang's defeat wouldn't be harder on him than it need be. Even now, he still thought of the one he raised his blade to. _Silly, really. I shouldn't worry so much._

_It is a part of who you are, Jiva,_ Sikyahonah answered, rich baritone breaking through his jumbled thoughts. And he knew, the bear was right. That was a part of him Jiva had never managed to deny, not to imply he wished to do so.  
A loud growl just ahead of him echoed through the halls. Jiva already knew Aang and Katara were here, but neither were the type to growl, thus the sound must have come from -

And all at once, Siwang switched from sword to twin butterfly daggers and launched into a flurry. It was all Jiva could do not to get too scratched up, duck to the right, duck down, roll, a kick that only barely missed. Siwang despised being confused, and Jiva had indeed confused the man a good deal; he should have expected such a sudden torrent, and perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind he had expected it. Finally, Jiva caught an opening, and reached for it; all of a split second later, he slammed Siwang into the wall, holding his blade against his neck. An extra trail of red snaked down Jiva's right arm, another scratch under the first across his cheek - it almost felt as if Siwang wasn't trying. It was either that, or _Jiva_ had been the one that was never trying and only was now.

"I did not expect you to remember," Jiva mumbled. "And I refuse to explain it; if you can't remember then it would simply be better for us both if we forgot I ever said anything to begin with. Fight me, idiot. You're only halfway trying and it's insulting."  
"Ever think perhaps I'm _trying_ to insult you?"  
"I didn't say it was insulting to me, Siwang."

Silence fell between them. For a moment, Jiva thought the other would give up and surrender, but at length, the shine of amusement returned to the slate eyes. A burst of air sent Jiva sliding across the floor, a loud metallic clatter as his sword's blade hit the floor and then a scraping sound as the blade ground against the broken rock, its wielder using it to slow his momentum. _He can bend without moving. How is that even possible?_

_Don't lose your focus; he probably did move and you simply missed it. Get up,_ Sikyahonah whispered. Jiva stood, moving back into stance. Before he got there, another burst of air kicked up and threw an air blade at his sword; he had no choice but to let it go. It slid a good fifty feet before coming to a stop against the opposite wall with a loud _clank_.

"Hah, now this is more familiar," Siwang cooed. "I'm used to you fighting me without a blade. If one could even call that fighting."  
"I wouldn't make the mistake of believing yourself to have an advantage now."  
"Is that a threat?"  
Jiva didn't answer right off, and then a startlingly Suyis-like grin crept across his features. "You bet your ass it is."

This time, the burst of air came from him, swirling around him threateningly, before coming to settle against his skin and compressing. _Sorry Zuko,_ he mused in his head. _Appears I'm not quite finished destroying your palace._

* * *

**T**urn here, down this slope here... the sounds of combat faded the farther away from the palace they got, and this was a fortunate thing. It took everything Suyis had not to turn around and interrupt the confrontation; he hated Siwang, for his own reasons, many reasons actually, and now that he was old enough and knew Jiva well enough to understand the full scope of those reasons, he hated the bastard even more. Yet perhaps it was not particularly his place to judge him as he did. After all, even Suyis had his problems, and those were caused by nothing more than his own weak will coupled with the deep running issues the Great War had brought to the surface. Maybe, just like Suyis was a product of the country's faults, Siwang was too.

The thought did not serve to make him like this any more. If anything, the slight common ground, whether it actually existed or not, between he and Siwang only served to make him hate him that much more.

"You do know where you're going right?" Sokka's voice interrupted. Suyis gave him what may have been an annoyed glare.  
"Yes."  
"You wouldn't happen to have a plan would you?" A pause, the sound of boots sliding against earth, and a small grunt when he landed. "Or are we just winging it and praying we get it right the first time?"  
"There's a plan. You'll see what it is when we get there."

Mostly because, and this he would not admit aloud, he was formulating it as they went. The trip itself to get there would not take very long; the Silent Rose was right at their gates, some of them even **in** the capital city, the rest outside the Gates of Azulon blocking off naval traffic and trade ports. Presumably, if the Fire Nation stood down long enough and allowed the rebellion to remain where they were, eventually the Fire Nation economy would begin to weaken and lead to an economic collapse. While at the time of the War's end the nation was a great one, a powerful one, and probably the wealthiest then too, it had slowly begun to wane as the greatest world power; over time, as the Fire Nation continued to assist with restoration efforts in other countries and established trade routes and ports for other nations, its wealth declined and they became not much better off than other nations were.

And the only thing that really saved it from a total collapse in the few years prior was Zuko quickly plugging holes in the monetary drainage with increased exports and decreased imports.

"For your sake, I hope this plan of yours is intelligent."  
Suyis snickered. "Hey, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid."  
"You remind me of Zuko, a bit."

The Firebender snorted; perhaps he was a bit like the Fire Lord come to think, but whether he really honestly was or it was merely a misconception he had yet to figure out. They certainly seemed to share the same pains these days, the only difference being Zuko had his Fire Lord shindig and Suyis... well he was just a legend.

"I see the camp. So what's the plan?"  
"You're not going to like this. I'll come get you though, promise."

The Firebender smirked, and then shoved Sokka down the cliff the rest of the way. He let out a loud yelp and attempted to stop himself from sliding all the way down, but in the end, it was for nothing and he smacked hard into the ground below. Almost immediately, the Silent Rose's guards had aimed their lances at his neck. And while Sokka dealt with that, Suyis slipped around the side and into the trees nearby, amber eyes digging around in the soil, looking for the tell-tale sign of the herbs they needed.

He could hear Sokka's struggling. It did seem a bit extreme, but he was more or less banking on the Silent Rose at least keeping Sokka alive and Suyis wouldn't be preoccupied very long either. His initial plan had, in fact, been infiltration; the hope he might learn some of the Silent Rose's plans while out here had been a driving force in that decision, but the knowledge that Jiva was fighting someone and that someone was confirmed by a Dai Li officer to be Siwang, he couldn't pass this up.

Siwang might have been privy to accepting his assistance but he had to doubt whether the others would or not. Thus, this; use Sokka as an unknowing distraction (if he didn't know, then in Suyis' experience, he'd play distraction _better_), slip in, get the herbs, Firebend some jerks into next Heruin and run for it. While not exactly a sound plan, it was better than the other plan; things could go wrong of course, just as with any other infiltration mission, but that was a risk Suyis was willing to take. He had nothing against Sokka of course, and Suyis didn't _think_ the Silent Rose would off him quite that quickly, and thus he definitely had time to get in and get out. And no one survived a fight with _this_ particular Firebender. How he himself managed to survive it was even still a mystery.

Carefully, he tugged the plants he needed out of the earth below him, gently setting them in a small pouch. They would not need that many, he didn't think, but he was planning on gathering more than he believed was necessary just in case his calculations were off. The last thing he wanted to do was need to figure out another way of getting in and restocking if he had not gotten enough. So absorbed in his task was he that he did not see the woman behind him. Silently, she tugged a dagger out of a sheath at her hip, and then quickly shifted; before the motion had even registered in the Firebender's mind, he found a dagger at his throat and a feminine hand pinning his left arm behind his back.

"I do not recall inviting you into my territory," she intoned. And he had to admit, he really had not seen that one coming. A slightly appreciative smile crossed his face, gaze trained on the direction he'd left Sokka.  
"Well I have to hand it to you, I certainly was not expecting to run into you of all people."  
"Hm. Nightmares are very good at sneaking up on you."  
"Ohoh, well, I believe I've officially learned that the hard way, Princess Azula."

* * *

**T**hat damned bastard. This was why Sokka hated Fire Nationals, especially the crazy ones. They did things like toss him down a cliff right into enemy territory, in their sight no less, and then sneak off into the darkness like it didn't make a difference. _Okay, Sokka, think. You're the genius of the group, think!_ Ah, no, he was most certainly not taking a fall for that thing called Fei Xing. Or whatever he said his name was (quite honestly, Sokka had not really been paying attention, too busy making plans for his latest genius creation). A very loud clank-rattle sounded as the guard let his now very shackled wrists go. He did not bother stopping their fall.

Damn it. Quite seriously, damn it.

And of course the three people that _might_ have been able to get him out of this situation were busy dealing with the other Airbender, the Si... whatever his name was. "The lady will see you in a moment," the guard spoke, and then wandered off, leaving Sokka shackled to himself and chained to a ship anchor. Most probably, if he had to assume, the anchor had been brought here with the sole intent and purpose of chaining prisoners to it. He waited, as patiently as he got. _Come get you he says; right. He also told me I wouldn't be in harm's way, so much for that. I'm just a guy with a FREAKIN MISSING BOOMERANG, why does this always happen to me?_ Ah, he knew why by now. It was official. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, son of Kya and Hakoda, older brother of Katara and relative by marriage to the Avatar Aang, husband of the Kyoshi Warrior Suki, was a freakin' _trouble magnet_.

Narrowly, he resisted the urge to smack himself repeatedly in the face; he had a feeling doing so would also cause the chain to whack him too, and that did not sound like a pleasant experience in the least. _And the lady they said. What lady? Oh crap, Azula?_ That would be a nightmare if he - well, he had faced Azula before. Granted, the others were always there and he didn't remember ever having faced her directly alone, but she couldn't be much worse than crashing a bunch of airships into each other.

Then again, she was crazy.

"... what on earth..." he heard to his right; that was not Azula's voice. He turned, curiosity getting the best of him, to find Mai, staring at him with a very dumbfounded (for her, anyway, as she was never really one for facial expression) look on her face. She shuffled over in front of him and knelt down, gaze glancing at the shackles binding him to the anchor before arching an eyebrow and looking back up. "What are _you_, doing _here_?"

"I got caught," was his simple response. Mai snorted.  
"I see that nitwit."  
"What are _you_ doing here? You're supposed to be dead."  
"I'm not."  
"I see that -"  
"You call me a nitwit and I'm going to knock your lights out."

He settled for a nasty look instead, which she promptly ignored. Mai was supposed to have died a long time ago, and then she simply turns up in a highly unexpected place. Zuko had gone near insane after her supposed death, launching himself into paperwork galore (not that the Southern Water Tribe family was visiting then, but, well they were). He'd even ignored all requests to come outside and play Kuai Ball with them and that was most certainly a first. **Aang** couldn't even get him out of his study and Aang had this magical big puppy Airbender eyes trick.

Yet here she was, alive and well, not a scratch on her. Sokka, being as he was friends with Zuko, found that number just a _**tad**_ annoying.

"Now," Mai said, interrupting his thoughts. "What are you _really doing here_?" For a moment, Sokka considered simply not answering. After a moment or two, all of which passed with her glaring daggers at him, he nodded toward the palace.

"Playing retriever for him."  
"What's here that he wants?"  
"Why are you so interested anyway, it's not exactly your problem."  
"You're after the herbs aren't you? The ones that counteract Siwang's nerve poison."  
Blue eyes blinked. "Nerve poison?"  
"It cuts off the nervous system to shut the brain down. Kind of like pressing too hard on your limbs and they tingle and go numb, only for the head."  
"She can't feel anything like that can she."  
"No."

When Suyis had said 'shut her brain down', he was thinking constant afternoon nap. That was a little bit beyond afternoon nap. He sighed; at least one of them was still free to move around and gather Toph's salvation. Rather half-heartedly, he tugged against the chains for a moment before relaxing again. "I slid down the hill and smacked into a guard, and here I am." Despite being ticked off at the Firebender whack-job, he did have to admit his own presence seemed to have caught attention, and just _maybe_ enough attention to keep them away from the other.

"Clumsy as ever," she commented quietly. Several heartbeats of silence passed, and then Mai shifted, before reaching forward and snagging Sokka's wrists. In her hand was a gold pin, presumably a female hair ornament, and she jammed it into the keyhole.  
"You can't do -"  
"I can do whatever I want to."  
"You're on _their side_, or did you forget?"

"Pay attention genius," she huffed, twisting the pin around in an effort to get the latch to release. "Just because I'm over here does not necessarily mean I'm on their side. At first, okay maybe I was, I was here for Azula because I thought she needed a friend, so I came for the friend I betrayed. And then over time it became so pointless it wasn't even worth thinking about and... well where else am I supposed to go, everyone thinks I'm dead and if I ran Siwang would turn on me. So, this is me, trapped here, helping you escape in hopes Zuko can get off his angsty ass long enough to defeat that psychopath for me and set me free, okay? This isn't about you, you're just the lucky one that fell down a cliff."

Now, Sokka couldn't really be sure but he was fairly certain that was as much as she had ever spoken all in one go in his presence. Quite honestly, it was mildly unnerving. He said nothing, just watched. And then it clicked and released, and she let him go.

"I suggest you go around the side. No one is ever over there," she offered, nodding toward the side pathway she was referring to.  
"I have to wait for my -"  
"Oh, hey you are in one piece," a voice he recognized as belonging to Suyis said; both turned, and he held up a leather pouch, full of something. Presumably, the herbs they were after.  
"Good, can we go now?"  
"What, you and the lady not get along?"

Mai snorted. "We never really did. He's too talkative."  
"And you're too anti-social."

Suyis shook his head; well at least someone could be excitable around here at a time like this. "We had better go." He turned to Mai. "Are you coming?" She seemed to freeze for a moment, as if a deer-rabbit caught in a spotlight. After a moment, she shook her head, causing the Firebender to frown. "Are you sure?" Mai nodded. "Alright then, suit yourself."

"Zuko wouldn't exactly be pleased to see her anyway."  
"Shut up Snoozles."  
"Hey!"  
"Alright alright, enough, you're both pretty, let's go!"

* * *

**I**t hurt, a lot worse than he remembered it hurting. Small, seemingly insignificant scratches etched their way into tanned muscles, leaving behind barely pink markings. The air around him was only barely controlled, kept very close to the skin, reinforcing it; he had only used this technique once before, a hand to hand technique mixed with Airbending that was meant to be both defensive and offensive. The air compression held so tightly to his skin would make him harder to cut, more difficult to damage, and because it was Airbending it'd take a seemingly insignificant second less time to throw air blades and similar. Unfortunately, it required near constant control; one wrong move, and he'd lose control of the compressed air held tightly to his form and probably near kill himself, if he didn't kill himself then and there.

The sound of something shredding met his ears; there went his right sleeve. Clothing did, he already knew, have a very difficult time withstanding the pressure. He called it Akis Asa, meaning Screaming Crane. After all, every good weapon deserved a name.

"The **hell** is _that_?" Amber eyes flicked up. Jiva simply smiled in response, the air around him curling and slashing like an angered cobra. The Airbender did not fear the technique. The one time he had used it in battle, Akis Asa had saved his life. Without using it, the man would have died and he knew it. Though dangerous, it was exceedingly useful, and he took great pride in having developed the technique. He supposed in the long run, it might be terribly scary to someone else.

"The Crane is screaming, Siwang. You're the second to see it; let's see if you live longer than the first did."

The loudest howling sound Jiva had ever heard met his ears, as he raised a fist and punched the air; a whirlwind of chaotic air blades, whipping back and forth near as much as they shot forward, zipped across the distance between them. Just like that, Siwang's blood splattered all over the floor, lacerations chasing the air blades as they went over his shoulder. That would most certainly hurt in the morning, Jiva thought. Then, he had never been on the receiving end; his control over the technique was minimal at best, but it was enough to give him an upper hand. Siwang stared, as if Indra himself had just manifested before his very eyes, or the Air Nomads had come back to life.

And a similar smirk then crossed Siwang's features and he dashed at his opponent yet again. The two slid into another deadly dance, Siwang slicing at the air, blade in hand, and Jiva blocking with Airbending and firing off air blades. The series of crashes that followed was near deafening, and yet neither seemed to be willing to give in. Another crash, followed by the sound of wood splintering and one of the palace's support pillars crumbled, apparently hit with far too many air blades for its liking.

Suddenly, Siwang switched tactic; he shifted around, using his momentum to throw his leg up. A loud crack as brown leather shattered Jiva's wrist bone, which at the last second came up to shield his jaw, and the other slid backward several feet. Yet Siwang was not expecting Jiva to use the move to his advantage; as he slid, Siwang dashed after him, jumping at the last second and aiming his sword at the ground, hoping to use the force of his fall to augment the stab. And at the same time, Jiva snatched his own sword off the floor and twisted, forcing his momentum to change direction.

Warm red slid down Jiva's blade, just before Siwang crashed into the floor, another _snap_ signifying Jiva's forearm had given out under the pressure.

That was most certainly going to hurt in the morning. The other began scooting across the floor, leaving a trail of red in his wake. Jiva wasn't sure if he wanted to follow, or stop him. Never had he been faced with this before, and quite truthfully, he was not sure what to do now. As much as Siwang had harmed others, Jiva believed he'd hurt himself even worse.

_He's lost Jiva. He does not want to remember, because it hurts too much.  
__I can't help him, can I?  
__Only he can help himself. He's beyond you now._

Already instinctively cradling his broken arm, Jiva used his sword to help himself stand, and followed Siwang, still scooting across the floor toward the servant's door. He only watched at first, following the other's movements. He'd done a little more than simply destroy this part of the palace. By now, he was fairly sure there was enough blood to stain the stone pink for a week at least.

_I have to try.  
__You'll only hurt yourself more in the end._

He couldn't watch anymore. Just as Siwang's hand reached for the door handle, Jiva threw his sword across the space between them. A sickening wet cracking sound, blade buried halfway in the back of his neck, and Siwang hit the floor. He twitched a few times. Tears already threatening to spill, Jiva shuffled over, kneeling beside him.

_I can't just give up mother. Somewhere in there is the boy I remember.  
__And what if he's not? What if he's gone forever?_

"Don't move," he whispered, brushing the strands of wiry black out of the way of Siwang's eyes. Gently, and carefully, he took his hand. "And don't talk either; it won't work very well with that thing in there."

_Then I guess I'm trying to save the wrong one._

"Ah the irony." He sounded so small, so lost, his voice just barely above a whisper. Subconsciously, the hand gripping Siwang's tightened. "About time you beat me. I figured it would be you; no one else had the strength to."  
"I said don't talk."  
"When did I ever do something you told me to?" Never, that was when. Jiva knew that, but just like then, he had to try anyway. "It's alright like this. Everyone that does wrong, well they always get what they deserve eventually."  
"You make it sound like this is over now."  
"Isn't it?" A pause, a stream of red gurgled its way out of his throat. "What happened to the spark you had five minutes ago? Don't tell me you're _sad_ to see me go."

He didn't then. In a way, Jiva was, and yet in another he wasn't. It was for the best, for everyone involved, or he would have never drawn his blade in the first place. Siwang snickered, shaking his head as well as he could with a sword in his neck.

"You'll be fine. You never did need me." Another pause. "Jiva, do you think it hurts? To die, I mean."  
"Of course it does. But it hurts a lot more to keep living."  
"Heh. Knowing you, that's the only reason I'm dying. She said it once, but I'll say it again. Never forget that you're alive. Can you keep a promise?"

Jiva nodded. Siwang reached back, a slight metallic _tink_ the only warning that he was going to pull the sword out.

"Live for me. Live the life I never managed to. You're a good man Jiva. Far too good for me." A quick yank, the sound of the sword skittering across the floor, and Siwang fell for the last time. Dimly, he registered Aang and Katara had come out of hiding; there was no point in it now, and Jiva had known they were there anyway. The problem with Air Nomad garb, it was hard to hide in. The orange caught attention.

Careful, Jiva shifted, pulling Siwang up and into his lap. His unbroken arm smoothed his hair down, ignoring the stickiness of the blood they'd managed to coat one another in. Why did it always end like this? Even now, it was still Jiva holding the next person he'd lost and crying.

"I'm sorry Tenak," he whispered. "Even now, little Jadyka still failed you."

* * *

**T**here were voices. Lots of voices, and if she paid attention, really listened to them, just barely she could tell who they were. Where they were, or more importantly where **she** was, she had no idea. If they were here though, maybe it did not really matter in the end. It was just an unimportant distraction, something to think about besides the pounding headache. Her fingers were tingling; very slowly, she was getting feeling back, and if she concentrated, she could feel the earth under... this was a bed, alright, under the bed then.

"Try not to pace so much, you'll wear a trench into the marble," one of them said; that voice she didn't recognize, and would have tensed up at the sound if her muscles were responding properly.

"I know, I know, blah. It's not like Jiva didn't already destroy my entrance hall, more damage won't kill anyone." That one was Zuko.  
"Just saying. You're not exactly highly wealthy at the moment, maybe minimizing damages would be a good idea."  
"Oh let him alone," a feminine voice, that was Katara, broke in. "He's allowed to pace around like an agitated lionseal."

What would Zuko be so nervous about? For the life of her, Toph couldn't quite figure it out. Her mind, it seemed, was just a little on the slow side, and maybe that was alright for now. None of her friends seemed to have noticed she'd woken up yet, so she'd simply leave them in the dark a little longer. For that matter, what would Jiva destroy the palace entrance hall for? That was something to ponder; the Airbender had never really been particularly destructive, thus destructive behavior out of him of all people was startling, for lack of better term.

She'd found him bouncing from job to job in the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, barely making enough to survive; he was a nice lad, if a little lost it seemed, at least to her, and quickly understood exactly who he was talking to. Despite the offer of payment for escorting the Lady Toph Bei Fong from Ba Sing Se to Gaoling and back, good payment might we add, he immediately knew it'd be less of an escort job and more of a scenic tour that paid. Toph didn't need his help, and he knew that; he accepted anyway, once she had explained her parents didn't want her on the road between the capital and Gaoling alone, and along the way they'd become friends.

And when they came back, they went their separate ways, yet not for very long. His Master, Lady Xia Lin, had died while they were gone, and he had nowhere left to go. For some reason, the Airbender attached himself to her, and over the next half year became an integral part of the Dai Li despite not being an Earthbender. He was so under the carpet about his true blood lines, he let others come to whatever conclusion they wanted to. And now she couldn't see her life without him there.

It was the same thing she liked most about Sparky; despite knowing who she was and what she'd seen, knowing this tiny little girl had helped bring down the last Fire Lord and end the Great War, he spoke to her as if she were a person and not a legend.

"That shit makes me nervous," the unfamiliar voice said.  
"Ah shut up," Zuko responded. Her arm wasn't tingling anymore. That in mind, she growled and rolled over.  
"Would both of you dunderheads shut up?"

Silence. And then, "Toph?" She almost threw a pillow at the Fire Lord for his stupid question.  
"NO, it's the Painted Lady. Oh right never mind, Katara stole that one." She heard a _thunk_, and then someone - that was Fireball - took her hand. A fairly half-hearted smirk crossed her face. "Someone's happy to see me."

"Awake, at least," he answered. She caught the giddiness in his tone.  
"Where are we?"  
"The capital. You've been in a coma for the last six months."  
"Aw man, the Dai Li probably got soft in my absence."  
"Heh, not really. Jiva's been playing leader while you were out of commission."  
"There's something stabbing me in the hip."

Shifting back around onto her back, she patted her pocket; a metallic _clank_ was heard. She smiled then, and pulled it out, handing it to Zuko. "This is yours," she said. Katara took the chance to tug Aang and Suyis out the door, smiling at the sight of Zuko staring at the metal. It was a multiple paneled steel collar necklace, held together with a small chain. The metal itself was a dark, dingy gunmetal hue, as if someone had dropped a silver blade into a bucket of black oil. Each panel had a different design etched into it; one was a dragon, another a sun, another a fire lily, and yet another a panda lily.

"I..."

"Shut up, you say stupid stuff when you're stunned." She paused, tapping one of the panels. "These were a pain in the boulder by the way. They took almost as long as shaping them did. Each one has a message. I'll leave that up to you, to figure out what they mean. That's why I broke your swords. The materials to make the dang thing were expensive, and running back to Ba Sing Se for the funding would have raised some eyebrows and I wanted it to be a surprise. So, I broke your swords to make us stay in Kaijin, something I could easily fix anyway, and then I worked for Shin Yu to pay the materials off. There's a panel missing, but it's almost done anyway."

He was quiet, but she could hear him turning the necklace over, looking at the panels' various designs. And when he spoke again, she heard the smile. "I didn't... well of course I didn't know, I just... I'm sorry. I was just worried about you."

"Hey, no need to worry about me, I can take care of myself remember?" She paused, pulling herself up in a sitting position, patting his hand and taking the necklace. He was nice enough to lean his forehead against her shoulder, and she hooked it around his neck. Much softer than usual, she punched his arm. "Worry about me so much you're going to end up older than uncle is, and you're only twenty something."

"Twenty one now."  
"I missed your birthday didn't I."  
"Knowing you're awake is enough."  
"Mai is alive."

It was sudden, and she didn't quite know why she had said it; Zuko stiffened a little, but he didn't move. "Is she?"

"Yes. She was the other assassin besides the Airbender. That night in Peihua, during the thunderstorm, that was her." He let out a rush of air, and she rather uncharacteristically fidgeted. "I didn't tell, because I thought it was her job to do that. She owed you an explanation, not me, but... then I thought, if she's alive, you really don't need me."

"Don't _say that_." Only then did he move, leaning his forehead against hers. "She died a long time ago to me. And I let go. It hurt, a lot, and more than I'm surprised I'm pissed. Her supposed death put me through hell and dragged me back, and now it was all for nothing, and through that entire thing I knew I had you. You've always been here when I needed you, even when you didn't know what the hell was wrong, and I was lucky if she even heard anything I said. I still need you, and her being alive doesn't change that."

She drew a breath in, and nodded. He was awfully close, but she found it didn't really bother her as much as it had in Peihua, when he'd kissed her out of nowhere. A quiet smile graced her lips. "I'll take your word for it then. Not important anymore." He huffed a little, as if he thought that was the most obvious thing in the entire world and to him, maybe it had been. "What did Jiva destroy the entrance hall for?" She could hear his hesitance, and he moved again, this time to sit beside her.

"Siwang got in, a few days ago."  
"The Airbender assassin?"

"Yes." He gave a little nod. "He was after you. Jiva wouldn't let him up the stairs. Their fight near collapsed the staircase, destroyed several walls and support pillars. There was blood everywhere, and it'll take us a while to repair the walls and the floor. The stone is in pieces." A hesitant pause. "Jiva killed him. Katara and Aang saw it, and they said, Siwang's real name was Tenak, and for eight years he was Jiva's, born as Jadyka, twin brother."

"... that explains why he never could dislike him. Jiva's never been one to hate anyone, I knew that, but he didn't even cringe whenever we ran into Siwang."  
"How long has he been around?"  
"A very, _very_, long time. Jiva said once that he didn't remember, and I wasn't sure what he meant. Now I understand. Siwang didn't remember being Tenak. All he remembered was, he wanted to be around Jiva for some reason, maybe on a subconscious level even _needed_ to be, and I guess not knowing any better, he became Jiva's personal hell." She paused. "Siwang killed Jiva's mother, his best friend Seiji, and his swordmaster, Master Xia Lin, ring any bells?"

"Mm. I remember a General Xia Lin."  
"Mhm, she was a General in the Fire Nation military. The same incident that got you banished also knocked the Fire Nation down a General. She fled to Ba Sing Se with her adoptive son and never went back. The day my parents and I came back to the capital, that was the day Jiva found her body. She'd been poisoned. He said to me, I knew Siwang couldn't ever defeat her the normal way."  
"That's fucked up."  
"That's an understatement."

She paused. Very slightly, her head tilted, and just to see what it was like if she had to guess, she slipped her hand in his. The buzzing in her head hadn't died off yet, but she could feel everything now. "Now that Siwang is gone, what's the plan?"

"I don't know," he answered. Only with her would he be so completely honest. "There's still Azula to deal with. Jiva said if Siwang died there was a chance the Silent Rose would start crumbling from the inside, because he was their war commander and Azula isn't mentally stable enough to do it herself. The lack of a strong leader would cause in-fighting and dissention and hopefully, lead to the rebellion's collapse."

Very slightly, Toph nodded; it was a good plan, but they needed a backup plan just in case it didn't turn out that way. She knew Siwang had another brother, his adoptive brother; Jiva had told her that when they were eight, Siwang had killed their father and run, presumably headed toward the South Pole. Somehow, he'd ended up on the other side of the Earth Kingdom and was adopted by the Bao family, and Linhao became his brother instead. In the right position, Linhao could prove to be a major, _major_, problem.

"I should go help mom and uncle with the paperwork, and I'm sure everyone else wants to talk to you too," Zuko mumbled, reluctantly pulling his hand out of hers and standing. But she didn't give him the chance to get to the door. The hand he'd just let go of reached up and snagged his shirt sleeve, tugging him back.  
"Don't go yet," she whispered. "Stay with me." It was so strange, sounding like a meek little girl; but this was Sparky, _her_ Sparky if she had anything to say about it, and maybe a moment of not wanting to be alone, even if it was for a second, was okay.

He only hesitated a moment, before he sat back down where he had been. His fingers threaded through hers. "Only because you asked me to."

* * *

**Notes:** I feel like I dropped the ball on this one... ahh, also, for those that have read Monochrome already, I will be taking it off hiatus after LTS is done. I apparently can't write for two A:TLA fics and an A:TLA forum RPG at the same time without skewing time-lines and I'd rather not mess myself up aha. Super duper surprises next go. Annd I think there are only two chapters left now before LTS has reached its end.

This one is "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine.

OH also, yeah, I know Suyis got caught by Azula and magically appeared unmiffed later - that was intentional you'll understand next go.


	13. Lux Aeterna

_Previously on Like the Sun:_

"He's teaching you to listen to something besides the fear and the pain and right now, with all due respect, you're failing. Not him, however; yourself."  
"Hm. Nightmares are very good at sneaking up on you."  
"This isn't about you, you're just the lucky one that fell down a cliff."  
"Even now, little Jadyka still failed you."  
"Don't go yet," she whispered. "Stay with me."

**Lux Aeterna**

**N**ever in all the time she had known him had Mai seen the man so thoroughly ticked off. It was one thing of course to know that his brother had died; it was apparently a completely different story if said brother had been killed by someone else. Why it really made a difference whether he'd just died or someone had killed him, Mai couldn't particularly be sure. Linhao was a strange one, she already knew that part, and where it made no sense to her, it apparently made plenty of sense to him. Whatever floated his fancy, she guessed.

Oddly, Mai didn't have the slightest bit of interest in talking to him or offering any sort of comfort. He knew the risks of joining a rebellion against the Fire Nation sovereignty; he _knew what it meant to get into war_, and yet he had done it anyway, and let his brother do the same. In her experience, rebelling against perfectly capable leaders did not quite lend toward survival rates. But the both had done it anyway, and really at this point it was their own faults that Siwang had died.

She sat in neat _seiza_, just beside Azula; for the most part, the Silent Rose had not seemed to really take the death of their own seriously. No one particularly _liked_ Siwang, and even Azula, whom seemed romantically interested in the egotistical Airbender, did not bat an eyelash at his defeat. Neither did she bat an eyelash at his bloodied body, brought to the Silent Rose and handed to Linhao. It was _his job_ to bury the man, not his killer's, and besides, Linhao deserved to know he was gone now. Even Lieutenant Meng, whom had looked up to Siwang, did not care. Then Mai didn't think that man was capable of caring about _anything_. Meng was a leak in the Dai Li; a rather unsuccessful leak because Commander Bei Fong never trusted him, and Mai had a feeling the Earthbender _knew_ he was a leak. He wasn't very good at lying.

Only Azula had ever blatantly lied in Toph's presence and gotten away with it. This was because the Princess was very good at that; lying, that is. Though sometimes, Mai had to wonder if she still was any good at it - Mai hadn't caught a lie off her since her escape from the mental health facility. Whether that was because she hadn't _noticed_ Azula was lying or because Azula just wasn't capable of lying anymore because she believed every single thing she said down to the last letter remained to be seen.

Movement caught her attention, and her dark gaze flicked up, catching sight of Linhao. The front of his shirt was now soaked in blood, not a drop of it his own, and he seemed highly upset. Mai was not expecting otherwise.

"Heh, he's still crying."  
"Hush Meng," Azula chided. "The man just lost his brother, have a little heart for once, it won't kill you."  
Linhao's slate gray gaze fell on her. For a moment, all he did was stare at her, and then he glared. "There's no need to defend me, _Princess_," he insisted, her title coming out forced. Mai knew he did not like her very much. She only smirked, raising her glass as if to toast him; the good stuff from Gaoling again.  
"Of course there isn't," she agreed. "But unlike some around here, I happen to value my officers. Take some time off Linny. It'll do you some good."

A fair request. Time off would indeed do the man wonders, Mai thought, but before she could voice her agreement (he listened to her a lot easier than he listened to Azula), a spear hurtled between them; Azula moved at the last second, leaning over to the side. The spear _thunked_ into the back of the chair she was seated in.

"Ya ain't even gonna move? Do you really not give a damn about anything at all?" Linhao crossed the distance, yanking the sword at his side out of its sheath. "This is all _your fault_, if you just hadn't started this shit in the first place my brother never would have died!"  
"Everyone dies eventually, Linhao," she answered calmly, her features still twisted up in amusement. She always looked like that.  
"Then I guess you ain't gonna be upset about yours either." His arm raised, and the blade shot at her heart, but Mai jumped in the way at the last second. A loud metallic _clank_ sounded, sparks flying off the steel blades crashing into each other. Mai was never any good at swordsmanship, but she figured she should learn a couple things and it was a good thing she had. Now, she and her sword were the only things standing between an amused Azula and a murderous Linhao.

"Drop it," she said, a warning tone lacing into her voice, both arms struggling to keep his sword from slicing into _her_ now. "I know you're angry but you're taking it out on the wrong person. Stop it."  
"I thought you'd understand."  
"I understand you just attacked Princess Azula because someone else killed your brother. Get a hold of yourself and go take that break she just suggested you take. It'd be good for you."  
"Even you?" His voice raised; it was anxiety, as if he felt like the only person who ever cared about him was gone, and maybe to him that was how it was. In Mai's opinion, Siwang never gave a fuck about anyone, not even himself.  
"Linhao." Her tone was slighting pleady. "Please don't make me fight you."

For a moment, he only glared at her. Then, he stopped pushing against her sword, removing his and sliding it back into its place at his side. She straightened out, yet remained ready to launch back into the defensive if he was attempting to trick her into lowering her guard; a brother like that, Mai wouldn't put such deception past him. After several heartbeats however, Linhao turned to Azula, and bowed. "My apologies Princess," he said in a low tone, devoid of any feeling. "I'll be around if you have need of me, but I'll be a scarce sight for a time."  
"Take all the time you need," she answered.

With that, he turned and trounced back toward his tent. And on the inside, Mai hoped he did not come back out for a long time.

* * *

**H**ow was it that the man managed to get so far? If Toph had to guess it was somewhere between Airbending and extreme upset. Behind her, Sokka and Aang trailed; Zuko refused to let her leave the palace unattended and apparently that amazing job fell to them. Normally she would have thrown a fit and a half (she threw just a fit and skipped the half this time), but it would undoubtedly make him feel better if she brought Snoozles and Twinkle Toes. It wasn't really _that bad_, and this apparently was the only way she was getting out of the Fire Nation palace. Fine, she'd play along. But only because she couldn't stand it when Zuko became overly distressed. Besides, the company was nice.

Her loose Airbender, however, appeared to have made it all the way to Shu Jing, and she only knew that because he'd left a trail of blood. The dunderhead didn't even let Katara heal him before running off. She thought he probably needed the time alone, but it had now been a week and a half already since she'd woken up (and no more headaches, fortunate because Toph Bei Fong got **cranky** when her head felt like someone had slammed a million needles in it), and in her opinion it was nigh time he stopped sulking. One would assume she had no idea what it was like, losing a sibling, being as she was an only child, but the young woman simply equated it to losing Zuko and understood just fine indeed. It would take time no doubt for those wounds to heal, but Toph believed he needed time to himself, and then time with others, people that cared about him, that would bother to tell him it'd be alright.

She let out a sigh, still slightly dimmer than usual seismic sense feeling around the village. Eventually, she'd come across vibrations that felt like his, she was sure. Until then, at least the experience was worth it. She did happen to like Shu Jing.

"Since we're here," she started at random, "anyone want to go see Master Piandao?"  
"Oh oh I do! Me me me!" Sokka squealed, and without warning, he shot off toward Piandao's mansion. The Avatar snickered at his friend's sudden elation; it'd been a while since Sokka had come this way, so no doubt it'd been several years since he'd seen his swordmaster. Well, that got rid of one of them. Now for the other one.  
"We should follow, just to make sure he doesn't end up in a sword fight he can't handle," Aang said.  
"Nah, he's not a half bad swordsman. You go though, I'm heading for the sea."  
"We're not supposed to leave you alone..." Aang fidgeted. He had this thing about keeping his word to his friends, and he had after all told Zuko he wouldn't leave Toph alone. She on the other hand just arched an eyebrow.

"I tolerated you two all the way over here, and I think following me that far out might cause more trouble than it's worth," she stated. "If you'd just lost Katara you'd be pretty upset. So is Jiva."  
"Katara's not my sister..."  
"Of course not, but the pain is the same. Just follow Snoozles, I'll be careful."  
"For the sake of my health, I hope so." Toph just snorted; despite what the Fire Lord said, she was pretty certain he wouldn't actually wring Aang's neck for leaving her alone. Overprotective boyfriends. Sometimes, they were so annoying. Yet she had a feeling it was something she should probably get used to. Zuko had this slight hero complex; most of the time it was only just barely noticeable, but certain things made it flare apparently. Of course Toph thought it was simply residual 'I have to do it myself' complex rather than a hero complex. The two were just so similar it was hard to tell the difference at times. One of the many things she liked about him, and one of the things they had in common.

While Aang reluctantly followed Sokka, she turned toward the sea. In her memories, every time they got near the sea, Jiva had to stop and watch the waves for a while, like he heard or saw something in the water no one else did. He told her later that, he'd grown up by the sea, a very tiny village on the coast of the Earth Kingdom. Presumably, the place of his birth had been sucked up in the Great War and colonized by the Fire Nation eventually. Neither of them were sure and neither was particularly interested in figuring it out either. That was what made her think he was by the sea. Because the Airbender always was, in her memories.

She rounded the hill, scrambling up the side, and just there was a heartbeat she recognized. _So he is here_. Of course he was. Toph was rarely ever wrong.

"I thought I'd find you here," she said, pulling herself up the cliff and sitting beside him. The cliff overlooked a waterfall that fell into the sea, if her hearing was anything to go by. The other didn't say anything, simply turned to look at her for a moment and then turned back to the waterfall. She huffed. "What, no hello?"  
"I'm... not exactly... in a talkative mood." It was so quiet if she were anyone else she may not have heard it. Instead of saying anything at first, she simply listened to the waterfall, thinking over what to say. Yet rather than her breaking the not uncomfortable silence, it was him that did it.

"I guess I realized somewhere along the line I'd gotten so caught up in trying to save him from himself, I forgot what it was to live, for me and not someone else. I am - was - his older brother -"  
"Am. Just because he's gone doesn't mean he was never here."  
"... am, his older brother, and I felt like if it was anyone's job it was mine. But maybe it never was, and I just told myself that to make myself feel better. I was trying, and... I don't know. Maybe somewhere in the trying I found a reason to keep waking up every morning and I made the stupid mistake of basing my entire existence around the stupid need to save my brother and what for? He died in the end anyway. Everyone does. What difference did it make? None."

She released a quiet breath. Then, her fist, not quite as small as it was when they first met, rose up and whacked him in the arm. It was not quite as hard a whack as normal, but that was mostly because she was still slightly disoriented. It would be another week or so before she regained her full strength and recovered; she'd been in that coma too long.

"You're the stupidest smart person I've ever met," Toph said, and Jiva quirked his eyebrow upward (seriously, stupidest smart person she said; whatever). "It meant something to you, it meant something to me, it meant something to your mother, it meant something to Hakaea. Just because he's gone it doesn't mean all your hard work suddenly went down the drain. You my friend, you are a resilient little bastard if I ever did meet one. Anyone else and Siwang would have died a long, long time ago."  
"And that may have been for the best."  
"Violence isn't always the answer. ... it's just funner."

Jiva couldn't resist the snort; such a thing being said by her of all people in the world, well that was pretty amusing, really. Well, she was rough on the outside but on the inside, he knew Toph Bei Fong was not quite as tough as she'd like you to believe.

"I know, it feels like it didn't make a difference at all, but now you can say you tried. You failed miserably, but you still tried. That has to count for _something_, you could have killed him whenever you wanted to, but you kept choosing not to."  
"I kept letting him win," he mumbled. She just about smacked him again, but chose not to for lack of interest in falling off the cliff.  
"There's a difference between actually winning and only winning because the other let you." He sighed. She snorted. "Come home idiot, don't make me drag you all the way back to the capital. And the first thing you're doing is getting your arm reset, _correctly_ this time."

* * *

"**M**y sources tell me they're about to blast their way through the Gates of Azulon," Suyis said, tapping the map on the table that marked the Gates' location. Zuko arched an eyebrow.  
"And who exactly are these sources of yours?"  
"You'll see eventually," the other answered cheerily. Then, the Firebender was _always_ cheery, a bit like a consistently tipsy Ty Lee, thus his reaction wasn't particularly disconcerting. "Oh, and leave Azula to me."  
"I've defeated her before," Zuko replied hotly.  
"So I hear. But that's not why I'm asking you to leave Azula to me." A pause, during which Zuko stared at him like he'd asked some extremely complicated maths question. Suyis huffed and rolled his eyes. "I came _all the way out here_ for this crap, I'd better get a fight out of it. That's all I'm saying."

Zuko simply shrugged; if the other thought he could handle Azula, who had been for so long hailed as a Firebending prodigy (and now that she was mental, she was a _mental_ Firebending prodigy; that was in some ways even worse), well it was his funeral, not Zuko's. To tell the truth, he'd never been particularly fond of the Shooting Star, and it certainly saved the Fire Lord the trouble of building another ship. Probably, that was a very bad way of looking at it. He had after all proven good help in waking Toph up, and now he was helping immensely with the rebellion to boot.

'_Now is not the time to get petty, Zuko,_' Futo whispered. He knew that. Really he did.

"Well," Zuko started, "you're the war commander guy. What's the plan?"  
Suyis smiled, that creepy I have something up my sleeve don't trust me smile. "Well, you're a fairly new Fire Lord right? Of course. So generally, the Fire Nation populace as a whole has yet to see exactly how you handle full-out swords-drawn conflict. This is very important; your father would probably just plow right through them by any means necessary. What _you're_ going to do, is kill them with tact."

"Tact." And just how did he think this possible?  
"Yes, tact. This is very important so pay attention." Zuko resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but decided to humor the man. "Solving this issue with non-violence is the key to a complete success across the board. First and foremost, your aim is to end the rebellion with minimal casualties on your side. Your second goal is to show the other nations you are in fact _not_ your father and are willing to approach things with an open mind and find workarounds. The key to _that_, is knowledge. Don't shed blood where blood need not be shed, and to make good on that statement, you need to know what you're up against."  
"They're going to blow the gates to smithereens, I think the tact and knowledge approach went to hell."

"Oho, I wouldn't be so sure. Now stop interrupting the tactical genius. If you'd been paying attention to them as you should have been, they've been around for years seriously where have you been? Anyway, you would have learned they haven't the same amount of monetary funding as you. This means their armada is of a lower grade in build. Further, their hulls are not in fact made of steel. Now, how do you destroy this armada without blowing them up?"  
"Uh..." Zuko paused. Naval warfare among the Fire Nationals tended to consist of, throw cannonballs, throw fireballs, board ship, beat the crap out of them, loot it, sink it.  
"... good god, what are you ten?" For once, Suyis stopped smiling. "Alright then, name something that goes through wood."  
"Steel?"  
"Okay not a total dunce. Next, what happens if you shove a steel nail into the side of a wooden ship hull and then pull it back out?"  
"... you make a hole."  
"Right, and what happens if a ship has a hole in it...?"  
"The water gets in?"  
"And the ship sinks. Ta da, entire armada under the sea, not a cannonball fired. Word to the wise, get an adviser."

He really should have been able to figure that out. For a moment, Zuko's hand twitched as he resisted the sudden urge to smack himself in the face. "Okay, problem, these someones or somethings that are under the water puncturing these holes into the hulls need to stay underwater or risk being seen and fired upon."  
"Now you're thinking like a monarch." The other's smile came back. "So you need someone or something able to stay underwater for long periods of time. How many ships are in the armada?"  
"I haven't the slighest."  
"Good news for you, I happen to know that too. Eleven ships, one of them is bigger and better equipped; that one's the fleet commander and it has better cannons."  
"Eleven... that'll take some time to sink."  
"Preferably, you'll want to sink them all at the same time."  
"Why?"  
Suyis scrunched his nose up. "Well if you sink one before the rest then they'll know you're sinking their ships and be looking for your friendly neighborhood nail-bearing mermaids. So, you'll need at least eleven persons or things capable of remaining underwater for long periods of time."

Part of him wished Toph was here. Then again, Toph would probably skip the sinking and go straight to the firing. "How am I going to -"  
"Ah ah, you were there you should know what I'm hinting at." Zuko paused, eyes narrowing in thought. It was after all his first real war since the end of his father's reign; this was important and unfortunately he had very little in the way of war talk with his various assistants, these being generally just his mother and his uncle. Neither of whom would be around forever. He had to figure out how to do this himself eventually.

'_The submarines_,' Kozu whispered. '_Waterbenders can Waterbend air pockets. Perhaps Airbenders can as well_,' Heo added.

That was a thought. "Do you think Airbenders can bend air pockets like Waterbenders can?"  
"Hey, he does have a brain!" The other's grin grew wider. "I think they can. Jiva can, at least." That was a start. And Aang was the Avatar anyway, even if he couldn't do it with Airbending he could do it with Waterbending.  
"I think we have ourselves a plan then."

* * *

**T**he sun had only just begun falling under the ocean. It took time of course, to get from one island to another, but they were lucky in that they had Appa. Jiva had not stepped more than a few inches away from her the entire trip back, Sokka and Aang discussing something behind them. Normally, Toph would have found that most annoying, but thought perhaps just this time, she'd let it slide. He needed to know someone else was around. Grief came in many parts; Toph knew that despite never really having lost anyone close to her. She'd seen it enough to know by now. He was at the stage where he needed to know there was someone else besides him still there.

Jiva was a curious creature. Always calm and reserved, as if a rock on the shore, never moved by the tides crashing against and around him. But even rock began to wear down at some point. One day, Toph believed his brother would have killed him without sword or bending. And just this once, maybe it wasn't so bad having him right on her heels.

"Commander!" She hesitated a moment, stopping on the staircase (who had built these stairs anyway, it took forever to get to the damned door). Haru rushed up, clearly out of breath. A dark eyebrow arched itself upward.  
"Did something explode while I was gone?"  
"No! I mean. Well, technically, uh," he fidgeted. Aang patted him on the shoulder, probably in a gesture meant to console but for some reason it made the Lieutenant even more nervous.  
"Haru. Spit it out," Toph said.  
"Meng."  
"What about Meng?"

"He's defected," Jiva guessed, speaking quietly. "The question is which side did he defect from?"  
"Already? Damn it."  
Haru nodded, one hand gesturing toward the docks. "A quarter of the Dai Li went with him. They're on the rebellion's side now."  
"Then I guess they're in my way," Toph shrugged, heading for the door again. "And you know what happens to people that insist on standing in my way."  
"If they need not be an enemy why make an enemy of them?" Jiva pressed. Toph snorted.  
"They've already made themselves an enemy. The same as Azula did. The same as Mai did. They're not special, Jiva, just because they were under my command. I expect them to have the presence of mind to know which side they're on and if they can't figure it out then I'll make that decision for them. And if they're stupid enough in the first place after having served under me to turn against us then they're a lot less suited to the Dai Li than I initially thought. We have a tradition and a duty to uphold, placed on our shoulders by Avatar Kyoshi herself and I won't stand for some pipsqueak little idiots making a mockery of it."

He fell quiet, and didn't slid back into place behind her. She stopped, a rush of air escaping. "I'm sorry. I understand. But we're in a war now. I don't have time to try and babysit anyone. If you'd like, you can take a break. Just until this is over maybe."  
"No," he answered immediately, moving past Sokka to stand just behind her. "My place is right here. I've said it before and I'll say it again."  
"And that's why you can stand there and Meng never could, despite your gaping differences in rank," she said, smiling a little. "Come on, I told you the first thing you're doing is getting your arm reset and I meant it."  
"Yes, Commander."  
"And then go spend time with Hakaea. She's a ball of nerves and you need it anyway. Haru, back to your post. Don't make a big deal about Meng, we're letting them know their shaky loyalties aren't missed."

"Of course." He bowed and took his leave, letting the others head into the palace entrance hall. And naturally, the next interesting event to take place was Sparky, zipping across the hall to attach himself to Toph. She heard Aang giggle, and swiftly kicked him in the shin, eliciting a quietly hissed 'ow'.  
"Sparky, you're kind of cutting off blood circulation."  
"Oh, sorry," and his grip relaxed a little. "I just... um..."  
"Missed me, yeah I know. Aang, Sokka, could you take Jiva to go find Katara?"  
"Sure thing! Come on Aangie!" Sokka chirped, snagging both Airbenders by the belt and beelining for the staircase.  
"... Aangie?" Apparently, Aang had never heard that particular nickname.

"Good to see Jiva's still mostly alright," Zuko mumbled.  
"Mm. Mostly. He's burying most of it, but I told him to go talk to Hakaea later. She can wring stuff out of that guy no one else can."  
"I can imagine."  
"Bah, come walk with me," she said suddenly, taking his hand and tugging him for the gardens. It was depressing, always talking about this or that bad thing and for once, it would be nice to talk about something completely unrelated. His fingers threaded through hers familiarly. If you'd told her a couple years ago she'd find herself one day wandering aimlessly around the Fire Nation palace's gardens holding hands with the Fire Lord and **not** totally weirded out, well suffice to say she would have laughed at you. A lot.

"I went up the mountainside alone," she said after a few moments. "Just in case you start wondering later why Aang keeps giving you the skittish I'm sorry stare."  
"That's good to know." And it was; she could have gotten away with not telling him. Aang wouldn't unless he asked, and neither would Sokka, so if she hadn't told him he'd have never known. It was always nice to remember this is the girl that'd tell him almost anything. It certainly helped in the trust department.  
"How's uncle doing?"  
"Well as usual, you know him. Spends most of his time playing Pai Sho and praising the high grade of tea Jiva grows. Mom's often talking to one General or another for me." He paused. "Just so you know, I love you."

Pale green eyes widened a hair. Of all the things she was expecting him to say, that was not on the list. _I loved him, Toph. I knew that then more than anything. You should let him know somehow, whoever it is you like. See where it takes you._ Katara was right, she thought. She drew in a quiet breath, and yet all she could manage to do was smile at him. After a few seconds, she caught the anxiety through the earth under them; quickly, she attached to him in a firm hug.

Apparently, it would just have to do for now.

* * *

**N**ervous Fire Lord was nervous. And if he didn't stop pacing around like that, Suyis was wholly intending to whack him upside the head with something. Preferably a something heavy enough to knock some sense into him but not heavy enough to cause damage. Perhaps a sword sheath. Not his, of course; it had metal spikes along one side and thus fell into the 'will cause damage' category.

_There will be two invasion forces. The first is the ground force. The second is the naval fleet. The fleet poses the largest threat, so focus most of your manpower on taking it out first. The ground force will prove to be little trouble. They're simple farmers with pitchforks.  
And how do I know you're not lying?  
I suppose you don't. But would you rather take the chance of what if I'm lying, or the chance of what if I'm telling the truth?_

"Are you sure this will work?"  
Suyis rolled his eyes at him. "You're the one that made the preparations. Why are you asking me?"  
"I have to ask _someone_."  
"Ask yourself then."

_Neither. The question should never contain the words 'what' or 'if', much less both strung together. Yet we both know you're not lying, don't we.  
You're an intelligent man Suyis.  
Others would tell you differently.  
I'm sure they would._

"Alright, I'm awake," Toph grumbled, making her highly annoyed entrance. It'd been a few more days, but her chakra were still slightly out of alignment, and it made her sleep in later than usual. Aside from that, she was fine now. Nervous about something, but fine. She took a seat near the end of the table, pale eyes sightlessly gazing in Suyis' direction in expectation. To the point it was then.

_I know it comes as a surprise. But there are many things solitude taught me. I'm merely listening to my instinct for once.  
For both our sakes, I'll keep your name out of it.  
Thank you.  
Where will you go, after this?_

"The rebellion is preparing an invasion. We already know this, so I'll get to the point. My information sources tell me this invasion is meant to take place today. Specifically speaking, after nightfall. Two invasion forces, the first a ground force made up primarily of farmers with little martial skill to speak of, and the second a naval fleet, armed with cannons, archers, and catapults," Suyis explained. "The ground force should be easy pickings, but the Dai Li aren't particularly suited to naval warfare, so I intend for the Fire Nation navy to handle the fleet and the Dai Li to handle the ground force."  
"Can do," Toph replied immediately. "I'll have half stay here with Jiva and defend the palace alongside the Fire Nation military and the other half come out with me to -"  
"Absolutely not," Jiva interrupted. "I'm going with you. What have I said about my place being right beside you. Quit forgetting!"  
"Alright alright, fine. Blasted Airbenders."  
"I resemble that remark," Aang retorted.

"Be careful," Hakaea whispered, standing just beside Jiva. He smiled.  
"Come with us."  
"... me?"  
"Sure. You can borrow my sword."  
At first, she stared at him as if unsure whether he'd actually said that or not, but after a moment, she smiled back and nodded. "Okay."

"Cute, swapping swords," Toph mumbled. "What's next? I'll be the kid's godmother right?" Both turned bright pink; Toph just giggled. It gave her an odd sense of satisfaction, sensing their heart rates race each other to Ba Sing Se through the floor.  
"Katara, Aang, we need you two to lead a special operation force," Suyis continued, chuckling a bit himself.  
"Special operation?" Katara tilted her head.  
"Yes, the hope is that we can sink the fleet without causing lasting damage or losing lives. I'm sure you're both alright with that goal." Both nodded. "Our plan is to Waterbend a small force of eleven under the sea. Their purpose is to puncture holes into the sides of the ships and cause the entire fleet to sink, but they need to all be working at the same time. You two can figure out how to do this yourselves." Both nodded again, and then left the room to begin planning.

_Ask me again, after this is over. I may have an answer for you by then._

"What will you do?" Toph asked. The Firebender grinned in response.  
"I'm after Linhao."  
"I thought you were after Azula," Zuko commented, tone puzzled.  
"Yes well, plans change sometimes. Try and keep up."  
Jiva snickered. "Suyis' mind changes near as much as the weather does."  
"Yes, I am coming to realize this."

"Well, I should get to making sure the Dai Li are ready," Toph said, standing and pushing her chair in. "Let's hope this works out as intended and we don't get any unwelcome surprises hm?" She turned and headed for the door, but before she could get there, Zuko caught her hand.  
"Be careful," he said, tone low. "I probably shouldn't worry... I can't help it."  
Toph snorted, giving him a grin. "What are you saying that for, you're coming with."  
"I am?"  
"He is?" Apparently that wasn't a part of Suyis' plan. Well, she didn't care much. She'd been a Commander longer than he had anyway.

"Yep. And before anyone retorts with a 'that wasn't a part of the plan', plans change sometimes. Shut up." Suyis closed his mouth, opting to grumble in mild annoyance instead. "Besides, Sparky gets stir crazy if you don't let him out sometimes. It's freaky, and no one wants to deal with it. _Trust me_."  
"You just ruined my plans!" Suyis squeaked, hopping over the table to follow the two out the door. Toph just waved her hand over her shoulder nonchalantly. Of course the blasted boulder didn't care much about his silly plans. After all, plans tended to go awry around here.  
"Wait what am I suppose to do?" Sokka yelled. "Hey! Guys!"

"Don't die," they all replied in unison. Sokka rolled his eyes.  
"Of course. Very helpful."

* * *

**S**he'd never seen a man fall so far. Where once was a good man driven by interest in peace and hope for the future now stood a twisted visage of what he used to be, an empty shell no longer interested in what he saw as an idealistic fantasy. His rise to power among the Silent Rose went unchallenged, either by the members themselves or by Azula, who was technically the leader of the entire thing to begin with. Azula did not care in the least, Mai realized, whether she had the majority of the say or not. This was completely contrary to the young woman she knew growing up; the Azula she knew would never bend and surrender control to someone else, much less a man like Linhao, whose interests conflicted and leadership was meager, never mind his common blood and upbringing.

He was quick to begin invasion preparations. Almost immediately after he had returned from his break, Linhao had thrown himself into the rebellion's planned invasion. It had been worked out, partially at least, by Siwang, yet there were still holes and loose ends. No doubt, those would be smoothed out before the invasion actually began, if they had not been already. As she had when Siwang was in control, she remained in the back, keeping to herself, blending into the shadows. She wasn't important anyway.

"When it's over," a voice spoke, a voice she recognized as Azula, "where will you go?"  
After a few moments, Mai shrugged. "I'm not sure. Anywhere really. Anywhere but home."  
"You seemed to like Omashu."  
"It was boring, just like everywhere else."

Azula slipped over, standing beside her, watching the ships prepare for the invasion to take place that night. It was quiet and peaceful now, the true calm before the storm. Everyone was on edge now, waiting for the moment the cannons finally went off. It depended perhaps, on which side of that cannon remained standing at the end; the outcome of this rebellion would either make or break the world it seemed. Or maybe those taking part in it were simply placing too heavy a weight on it. There was a difference, after all, a very slight one, between starting a war and ending one.

"You should travel, maybe," Azula offered. "Never stay in one place. Become some kind of vagabond, no ties, the freedom to go wherever you'd like." A heavy pause passed between them. For once, Azula seemed sober, a sudden change in demeanor Mai found to be quite a bit off-putting. "I used to envy that, the way you seemed to want to go everywhere and do everything, and yet nowhere and nothing was good enough for you either."  
"I always envied you." She figured that much was obvious. "Even now I'm not sure why."  
"Hm. We're not so different after all, Mai. But we're not children anymore either, I know. Things are so much different now than they were then. Do you ever want to just turn back time?"  
"All the time."  
"And then somewhere along the line, you realize even if you could reverse time, you'd be who you were then again. Would you make the same mistakes? Follow the same path? I think so."

Maybe it didn't matter whether they would follow the same path or not. Regardless of all that, there was no way to reverse time, no way to redo events that someone might wish to. Mai had thrown her life away for the sake of adventure, only to find the adventure was not quite what she had initially believed it would be. And now those were decisions she had to live with, the same as Azula had to live with her own decisions.

"It doesn't really matter, Azula." Because the fact was, nothing could turn back time and give them the chance to live all that again. It must have been the good stuff from Gaoling talking rather than Azula herself, and yet Mai still found herself enjoying the company anyway.  
"I guess it doesn't."

Azula paused, gold eyes on the sparkling horizon rather than the business of the shipyard. "Mai, for your sake, get out of here before sundown. Siwang isn't here anymore. Linhao will be busy, and most likely defeated by morning. There's no need to stay."  
"I've stayed this long for you. I can go the extra mile."  
"And this is me, telling you not to. Trust me. This is one battle you don't want to see up close."

A quiet smile passed over the royal's features, and just as quick as she had come, as simply as that, Azula turned and walked away. And in the silence she left behind, there was a quiet sense of loss, a sense that, until that moment, Mai never realized she'd felt. Losing a friend is hard, no matter the circumstances and the whys, and Mai thought that somehow she had hidden all that under a mask of impassiveness. But the truth was, Mai had always missed her friend; they had grown up together, and nothing could really change that. Somewhere in there was a buried shard of hope. The hope that, no matter the outcome, Azula would remain standing at the end.

Because if she wasn't, Azula would have died alone, and no one deserved to die alone.

* * *

**I**n only a few minutes, the sun would sink beneath the sea, and with it would end this precarious tranquility. Most of the young Dai Li Commander was thrilled at the chance of combat again, most especially after what seemed to be forever. She and the rest of the Dai Li, the ones she had remaining that is, had spent the good majority of the day working out strategies and doing minor drills. They had gone easy this time, if only out of interest in conserving energy. Aang and Katara had somehow brought together a number of Waterbenders that had migrated to the Fire Nation after the war ended. They were ready for this, or so they all hoped.

Beside her, Zuko stood, one hand curled into a fist as a silent expression of anxiety, and the other clinging to one of hers. It had become common, crossing paths with the two and finding them hand in hand, as calm as the waves as a peaceful dawn began. Every day that passed, she found herself more and more at ease in his presence. A strange thing to think, yet the same had happened with the other members of 'Team Avatar', just in a different way. First, of course, Zuko was her friend, and the rest had all clicked into place on its own. He wore the necklace she'd made; it gave her an odd sense of pride knowing it was there.

"Hey," she heard, and her head tilted a bit to let Zuko know she heard him. "After this is over... because it will be and we _will_ win right? Right."  
"Of course idiot."  
"Well, when it's over, I... I have something I want to talk to you about. Now isn't a good time, so... later. Yes."  
"... alright." And despite knowing better than to think too much about what he said, Toph still found herself thinking about it anyway. He rarely sounded so unsure and nervous when talking to her. Whatever this something was, it was apparently important.

"Alright, Sink Team, let's go," Aang said, the last rays of light fizzling out against the ocean surface. Katara motioned for the others to follow, and they went around the side, hoping to slip into the bay before anyone noticed they were there.  
"Alright limp noodles, let's show 'em what we're made of." Toph whacked Jiva in the arm. "You, figure out where they are, Zuko, go with him and until I come back you're leading the Dai Li, Hakaea, come with me."  
"Me?" The girl in question squeaked; she had apparently learned bits and pieces of swordsmanship from Jiva over the years, and yet still she seemed entirely uncomfortable holding his spare sword. From what Toph had heard, however, it had been almost a year since the last time Hakaea had put any of her swordsmanship training to good use.  
"Yes you."  
"You know I hate splitting up," Zuko grumbled.  
"I do too. But we get more done faster this way."

He grumbled something unintelligible, yet stayed with Jiva regardless. For that, Toph was thankful. Reluctantly, she let his hand go and took hold of Hakaea's instead, tugging her toward a hillside and up. They had a particularly important job, she thought, something that with luck would help quite a bit. The rest of the Dai Li remained behind, helping the Fire Nation army guard the city; Haru was in charge. He was a rather good asset at times like these. Perhaps she'd remember to give him a pay raise when they got home.

"Okay, one of these is mine and the other is yours," Toph explained, letting Hakaea's hand go and pointing. There were two low metal arches side by side, both with a stretchy material tied to either corner and pulled backward. They were secured to another, smaller arch anchored to the rockface. Makeshift slingshots, of course.  
"Did you make these?" Hakaea sounded awed; well of course, this was Toph's handiwork, and even Piandao would be - okay so perhaps that one was pushing it a bit.  
"Of course," Toph answered. "The idea is, we're aiming for the back end of the ground force. With luck, we won't kill any of them just injure them enough to make them easier pickings for the boys."  
Hakaea nodded. "Alright, then what are we firing?"  
"Compressed boulders, most likely. Smaller ones, this far away a larger boulder could crush people."  
"Toph, I can't bend."  
The woman in question rolled her sightless eyes. "Who do you think you're with, a squirrel?" Hakaea shrugged then, sliding the sword into her belt and shifting out of the way. Toph turned around, pulling smaller sized boulders out of the earth and compressing them, placing them all in a pile.

"Are they here yet?" Hakaea shifted over to the cliff edge.  
"Yes. I see them now."  
"Alright, you're firing first."  
"Me?"  
Seriously? Toph shook her head, an eyebrow quirking upward in disbelief; Hakaea was so jumpy and unsure, it was hard to believe her a trained fighter in any sense of the word. Then again, she had been trained by Jiva, who was admittedly a little more gentle than a teacher should be, in Toph's opinion. Perhaps after this war was over, Toph would see to it she got real training. Not to imply Jiva was incapable, but he was far too lenient. "No your shadow. Hakaea, seriously. I can't sense them yet so you'll have to aim."

With a slight sigh, Hakaea meandered over, turning one of the arches to face the direction she saw the rebel army, then shifted over and unhooked the fabric. Toph Earthbent a boulder in, and the two pulled it backward. "One," Toph counted, "two, let go!" A loud metallic clanking signaled the boulder had taken flight. A few moments of silence passed, and then a loud crash and several shrieks.

"Score!" Hakaea squealed. She decided to allow the girl some momentary celebration time before loading the next one. Morale was a good bonus, Toph knew, and even steeled warriors such as the Dai Li enjoyed a moment of celebration every once in a while.  
"Hey, nice aim. One for the Fire Nation! Next!"

* * *

**S**ilent shadows slipped beneath the waves of the bay. They had of course done something similar to this before, many years ago now, and not quite as simply either. Air pockets were bent into place, allowing the small group to remain underwater through the entire venture. It would take time no doubt, but he and Katara had decided to use Waterbending to press holes into the ship hulls. It would be faster than using nails as first suggested, after all, and most likely would save the Fire Nation's navy a fair bit of work keeping them from breaking the Gates down; not that anyone assumed they could even manage the feat on a good day, but it was better not to take the chance at all.

Arranged in a row, the underwater assailants awaited the arrival of their opponents. Small sized ships they were, not at all the same size as a ship of the Fire Nation's armada. It would take little time, if they were guessing correctly, to sink the entire fleet. A mere number of eleven ships could hardly be considered a fleet though, but for lack of interest in unnecessarily insulting one's enemy, fleet would do indeed.

Both the Avatar and his wife had initally doubted the plan and how well it might work; sure enough, Sokka turned out to know several Waterbenders from the Northern Fortress whom had relocated after the War's end. Some of them had moved just to get away from the Northern Fortress for a while, others had moved for a more permanent reason, and others were still en lieu to the Southern Tribes in hopes of helping their Southern brethren rebuild. It seemed now that this particular plan would not be all that difficult a thing to pull off after all. Even better, several of Master Pakku's students had come specifcally to assist the Fire Nation against its rebellion, courtesy the Order of the White Lotus.

A light tap brushed across the Avatar's arm; he turned, finding Katara pointing upward. Gray eyes flicked upward to meet the dark shape of a small ship. They were here. A quick flick of his wrist, and the water swirled around the others, alerting them to the fleet's presence. Together they slid up through the water, each one attaching to the underside of a different ship. Carefully, so as not to disturb the course of the ships and alert their crews to their silent sabotage, the Waterbenders chipped and hacked into the hull with thin water razors, scratching away at the wood. Katara's was the first to break, the ocean water gushing into the hull with a loud rushing sound, easily heard when under the bay; Aang's was the second, adding to the cacophony that spelled the fleet's early end.

The two swam to other ships, helping their assailant break their own hull, and one by one the fleet came to a sudden halt. One of them slid over, crashing into Katara and Aang before they could leave the last ship, just in time to spare them the pain of swimming into an arrow. The fleet had opened fire, even not knowing where their assailants happened to be. Quickly, the sink team swam back through the Gates of Azulon, pushing the thick metal door back into place. What a success it was; the first two ships had already fallen halfway under the bay, the others not far behind.

"We should go help the ground force," Katara mumbled, her words coming out somewhat distorted through the air bubble.  
"Yeah, how about it guys?" Aang turned to the other benders. They split themselves up into groups of two, pulling themselves out of the bay and drying off.  
"Our group will help with the ground force, the other one will join the Dai Li at the palace," a short Waterbender named Keelan explained.  
"Sounds like a plan, good luck guys!" Aang chirped. Keelan just snickered.

"From the looks of it, Avatar Aang, we've already won and the rebellion simply hasn't gotten the idea yet."  
"I wouldn't let yourself get too comfortable yet, Keelan," Katara said, bending the water from her hair. "Only when it's over is the battle really won."

* * *

**O**n a cliff, out of the way, the former Fire Princess watched the skirmish. With such a determined whirlwind, her brother of course, leading the Fire Nation's defense force, the rebellion stood very little chance. Just as she had assumed, Suyis did very well separating the nation's defenses and allocating them to appropriate posts. Such was probably the only reason she had let him loose after catching him that day; well, barring the fact he was after the antidote for Siwang's nerve poison and Azula _certainly_ did not want to see the heap of depression and seething anger her brother would have become had the Earthbender never woken up, or worse, succumbed to it at some point.

Even from here, she could see the swirls of flame that were unmistakably his. Despite his flames being orange as with most Firebenders, Azula found it fairly easy to locate his in particular, an odd ability she never really could explain. Perhaps it was a familial thing. Somewhere behind the main bulk of the defense force (a mixture of Dai Li and Fire Nation military, if she was seeing correctly), she saw a mess of flame she believed to be the Lady Ursa. Surely, Zuko would not be pleased to hear of that; he always was rather defensive of their mother and Azula very much doubted this had changed.

A branch snapped behind her, but she already knew who it was.

"I thought I might find you up here," he said, and then the one known as Fei Xing sat beside her, gold eyes on the battle. It seemed intense, even from here.  
"I certainly had no intention of fighting against my own nation, despite the feeling they have already betrayed me."  
"They wanted what was best for you, even then. It's a difficult thing, coming to terms with something like that."  
"I had very little control. I've always been the one in control, and to find that control had slipped..."  
"I understand."  
"I know."

And he did. The Shooting Star was the one Firebender in the entire world that frequently lost control of his Firebending, and yet still remained a very powerful force to be reckoned with. The rumors had it painted as a tragedy; he was born to parents that either did not want him or did not survive past his infancy, and fate found him upon the doorstep of a Fire Nation orphanage. And from there everything went downhill. No one ever formally trained the boy, and by the time he was in a situation wherein he had the resources to get the training he needed, everyone was too afraid of him to do it. He'd burned his village, a slave trader caravan, countless bars and homes. And the last place he'd ever exploded in was a tavern just outside the Earth Kingdom colonies. In that blaze, he lost his fiancee and damn near his arm.

Yet he stood here today, a pillar of intelligence and sarcasm, and probably too many bottles of wine for his own good, and faced the possibility he may once again slide out of control every day. And there she had been, a mess of uncontrollable tears and unleashed frantic Firebending, the moment it seemed her life was no longer going the way she wanted it to go. Terrible. She did her family's name justice, however, considering what her family's name had been for a long time.

He was the first one she'd met. Just after the War had ended, he was in the same mental facility on the same island she got sent to. And where everyone else ignored her, skirted around her, abruptly left rooms she entered, he never did. And he got out first, only a few months after she was sent in, but the things he'd said, the way he held himself and seemed so assured of his own ability to overcome any obstacles life might have seen fit to toss his direction, well they were a bit of an inspiration. It went practically without saying; of course she'd let him go.

"You told me to ask you again after it's over." So she had. Azula drew in a breath, amber gaze watching the last of the naval fleet sink beneath the bay.  
"I suppose I did. I thought I would have an answer, but the truth is I still don't know."  
A quiet breath released in a rush, a gentle snort perhaps, and his hand wrapped around hers. Gentle, far more so than she would have believed him capable of being, considering the stories, but then stories were only right half of the time. "We'll figure it out together then."  
"I suppose we will." And maybe that was alright, maybe it was alright to need him.

"I finally found the leak."  
Suyis smiled, highly amused at how long it took Linhao to realize it. And even better, he had needed to climb up a cliffside from a sinking ship to find them talking just to figure it out. He really wasn't as intelligent as his brother was, but then his brother wasn't really his brother anyway. "Yes, congratulations, you finally found the leak. Ten points for you and an extra five for being fashionably late with it."  
Linhao growled. "Shut up. And you, how long have you been in cahoots with this behemoth? You were cheating on Siwang with him weren't you? Of all the - Fei **Xing**."  
"Mm," Azula started, her eyes moving upward in thought, "well he has a few things Siwang never did. For starters, a brain."

Another growl, and the man threw a dagger. Unfortunately for him, Suyis was a little faster than he'd anticipated, knocking the knife out of the air with his sword sheath, and then twisting and launching the same sheath at his nose, flicking it off without ever having touched it. It hit with a loud _crunch_ sound. "Oooh," Azula mused, "and apparently skill as well, that's hot Susu."  
"I'm just getting started, love. Shall we dance?" Despite his gaze holding Linhao's, the Shooting Star was talking to Azula.  
"One last win for the Fire Nation?" She stood, brushing herself off. No, she'd never been on Siwang's side, or Linhao's. The only reason she had been here at all, allied, seemingly, with the very rebellion attempting to rip her brother off a throne he had earned many times over, was to ensure it failed. The good stuff from Gaoling was a bit of a ploy; they had no idea that was her medication, mixed into the juice tonic made to fizz like wine, and if they believed her still insane, they let her do pretty much whatever she wanted. A most terrible mistake on their part, but it was too late now to fix it. One was dead and the other was about to meet his end, their rebellion was most certainly losing, and Mai had left that morning to the spirits only knew where.

"Oho, one last win indeed." Suyis shifted, straightening out and closing the distance between he and Linhao, a rather characteristic devilish smirk playing across his features. "Don't worry Linny, Siwang won't be lonely for long on the other side. This is the night you regret ever hearing my name."

* * *

**T**hings ended well enough. Before the rebellion even got halfway from the Gates of Azulon to the capital's palace, the defense teams chewed them up and sent them running home for mommy. Haru seemed a bit annoyed; he had apparently gained some small bit of Toph's love for a challenge, and had been highly disappointed to find he was not needed in the end and neither was his team. Yet the happiness at seeing the battle won eventually overrode the upset, and the two groups met up at the foot of the palace stairs.

"Good to see you're alright." Jiva slid his hand into Hakaea's, her other still clinging to the sword she had borrowed from him. Apparently, the direct combat did wonders for her seemingly anti-excitement disposition. Someone was most certainly not getting any sleep tonight.  
"Mostly," she answered. "I think Commander Toph did all the work."  
"She's just the type that would," the Airbender replied, smiling a little. A week ago, and this would have highly upset him, but tonight he could smile about something for once. And maybe Toph had been right in the end. Even if he had failed with Siwang, he had still tried.

"Ugh, I need a shower." Zuko shook his arm, his nose wrinkled at the blood smeared across tan skin.  
"What is this, the Fire Lord holds disgust for his subjects' blood?" Haru was teasing of course. Zuko just made a nasty face at him and shoved his shoulder playfully.  
"Haha very funny." He paused a moment, amber eyes glancing around. "Hakaea, didn't Toph come back with you?"  
The girl's blue gaze blinked. "Oh! Yes, I think she went in already. Impatient I guess. She was grumbling something about tea."  
"Ha, thanks," Zuko snorted, turning for the doorway. "Ah, remind me to yell at uncle for introducing her to tea and getting her hooked on it so bad."  
"You would likely need to yell at me as well," Jiva admitted.  
"Ah, I haven't the heart to yell at anyone at the moment, and by the time I do I'll likely have forgotten."

He was in a fairly good mood, most certainly. With a slight, respectful bow to the others, he bid them well and wandered in the doors. The first place he thought to check was the kitchens, of course; Toph was a strange one, in the context that, regardless of his having servants and her being of high birth and certainly no issue bossing said servants around, she didn't tend to and often made her own meals and got her own tea. It was a good thing though, he thought; better that he found it endearing than annoying, no?

"Looking for me?" Zuko stopped, a slight smile crossing his features at her voice. She sounded fine, not that he was particularly surprised by this (psh, Toph was _always_ fine, duh; coma notwithstanding, of course).  
"More or less, yes."  
"I said I was going there, but really I was intending from the start to lean against the wall and wait for you."  
"Should I run now or later?"  
And she just laughed at him. It wasn't strange of course, his response, and really she should have expected something similar. "Neither," she said, moving across the room to slip her hand into his as she always did. After the first few times, he'd begun wondering why exactly she'd decided to keep claiming his hand as her own, but then it crossed his mind that he shouldn't really wonder about it. If one _enjoyed_ something, normally they did not think about it too deeply. "No running tonight, I'm beat for once. Maybe tomorrow though, so don't get comfortable yet."  
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing that with Toph Bei Fong in my palace."  
"Heh, and people wonder whether you're a suitable Fire Lord or not. That tells me you are right off." She paused, and then gently tugged the hand she had a hold of. "You were the one that wanted to see me, silly."

Hm, that he had. He hesitated a bit, tugging her toward the kitchens. Tea did sound like a good idea, and maybe it was because she was there, or maybe because it was very late at night, he couldn't quite be sure, but he felt like making it himself this time. Likely, he would regret that decision later; he never did better his tea making skills, despite all of his uncle's efforts at helping him do so. "I can't remember why," he said, despite knowing she would see right through the lie. He remembered why, it was simply a matter of not quite being ready to go there just yet.

"I see." He almost didn't believe she'd accept it at that, but perhaps he was mistaken and, just this once, regardless of knowing he was lying, she wouldn't call him out on it. Little by little, as they made their way down the staircase, his nerves evened out. Just as they reached the end, however, her hand suddenly slipped out of his and she promptly pinned him to the wall.

Oops. "Hey. Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it okay?"  
"I know. I just... later. We're all worn out, and stuff. So. Yeah."  
"Hm." She paused again, and then let him go, turning to continue their venture into the kitchens. Yet she stopped again and repinned him, this time to steal a searing kiss and meander off again. It almost made him dizzy; things changed a bit when it went from him kissing her to her kissing back, it seemed, and the rush of feeling that came with it near knocked him on his ass. For the sake of his dignity, he remained upright.

"Just so you know, I love you dunderhead."

He couldn't help the laugh.

* * *

"**W**here in the name of Agni have you been?"

That would be the first thing to come to mind, seeing the elusive Fei Xing slink into his office one morning, about three days after the rebel invasion if he was calculating correctly. Suyis just gave him a childish grin, so like the grins Aang would give back in the day (if you really watched him, sometimes, he still made those faces), and proceeded to flop onto the couch across from his desk.

"Here and there, nowhere and everywhere, say, you an' Toffeepoffee ever decide to tie the knot?"  
"... not yet."  
"Oho, pfh, someone's a little slow. Better hurry before someone else gets her first."  
"Out of the question. And you're avoiding the subject." That, and the mere idea seemed to tick him off, thus perhaps a change of subject was a good idea.  
"So I am," Suyis admitted. He shrugged and flopped over to lay down and stare at the ceiling. "Remember what I said?"  
Zuko quirked an eyebrow. "You have said a lot of things."  
"Yes but that really important thing I said just before the invasion? That thing about Azula?"

"I'll handle Azula?"  
"That's the thing."  
"What about it?"

The other paused, watching the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought about something. After a few moments, Zuko began to ponder whether it would be a good idea to go back to filling in all this paperwork or not, but he refrained, taking a bit of solace in the sudden peace. Suyis was, after all, a rather loud character, and him not talking for once was nearly a blessing, really.

"Well, I did handle her and since you're the only sane living male relative cause my ass ain't askin' Ozzy for jack crap anyway can I marry her I can fantastic well off I go now!" And Suyis hopped up and beelined for the door; not quickly enough, however, and a spark of electricity crashed into the door way before Suyis could get through it.  
"YOU WANNA **WHAT**?"  
Suyis cringed a little, but turned around. "Marry your sister, yes, I said that already."  
"I heard you the first time! I'm just wondering what in the hell has gotten into your head!"  
"... well, when was the last time you've talked to her?"  
"... a very long time ago. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Ask her yourself."

The idea that Suyis had lost his mind was only enforced as he reached outside the door and tugged a very unwilling Azula into the room; her gaze immediately fell to the floor, as if somehow he was above her. Perhaps, in a sense, he was now, and yet the mere idea still upset him a bit. Zuko was her older brother, nothing more than that, and, like Jiva, he took quickly to the idea that older brothers were born first to protect those that came after; a job he had definitely failed at for far too long. His gaze softened a little.

"... you..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say. The last he had checked, Azula was after his neck, and yet she had placed herself just slightly behind Suyis, as if she were afraid of him.  
"I wasn't, by the way," she said suddenly. "Allied with the Silent Rose, I mean. Suyis' information source, that was me."  
"You joined them just -"  
"Yes, just to make sure they failed. If they thought I was still mentally unstable, they tended to leave me to my own devices, and, well didn't think much of it if they heard me talking to someone either." She paused. One of her hands slid into Suyis'. "I... we met, a long time ago, just after the War ended. And, I guess in him I saw pieces of who I was. He taught me a lot, I think, about not only himself but about _myself_, and... and I'm really proud of you Zuzu. I just wanted you to know that. But, I don't think here is a good place for me. I... don't really have the personality for it. Or, rather I do and that's the problem. So, now that he's not banned from ever coming back to the Fire Nation again and can go anywhere he likes I thought maybe now would be a good time to settle down and have a family."

A light tapping sound echoed through the room, Zuko having dropped his calligraphy brush. Of all the things he was expecting his little sister to say, that was all as low on the list as it got. Heck, maybe not even _**on**_ the list. When had a list begun existing in the first place?

"If you want, I'll check in occasionally. So you can keep tabs on me and make sure I'm not you know destroying worlds or tearing down monarchs."  
"I think it's a fine idea, Zuko," a voice interrupted. Azula immediately turned to face the wall, hiding behind Suyis, as Ursa stepped in. "I advise you accept this arrangement."  
"Mom," he whispered, "the last I checked Azula was _crazy_."  
"And you know as I do, she was certainly getting better before her supposed escape. That much at least checks out," Ursa whispered back. "If all she wants to do is get married to a pirate, well... there are _better_, but surely she could ask you for worse."

Alright, so she had a point. Still, the cynical part of him would feel much better were she in the facility she had escaped from and remained there. Then again, were she telling the truth, throwing her in a mental facility she did not need to be in and tossing the key wasn't exactly a nice thing to do, and while he wasn't above being nasty if he had to be, it was a totally different story were it unmerited. Yet he wasn't entirely certain that it _was_ unmerited.

"Denied." Both her and Suyis' expression fell. He was expecting that from Suyis, but his gaze was on her. "The last several years, it has been nigh impossible to trust you. It is difficult to believe out of nowhere this has suddenly changed, that _he_ has gotten to a part of you none of us have been able to reach. Your request is denied, Azula. You'll be returned to the facility in the morning. I suggest you both get some rest."

Ursa seemed to deflate somewhat; perhaps she was hoping that, for once, her daughter's life might go better than it had been for so long, and in a sense Zuko hoped the same. But he had to know first. Azula flicked her gaze up at Suyis, her hand squeezing his, and then nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry, for bothering you." Then she turned and led the pirate out the door. And more than he worried that he'd made a mistake, he worried that his sister would never forgive him for it.

* * *

"**I** wasn't expecting him to accept it." Even so, she sounded oddly dejected. Suyis couldn't blame her for it, as he was too, just in a different way. Now was the part where he played rock of support rather than allowed himself to become upset; when she was gone, then he surely would, but for now, she still needed him. Odd, thinking of settling down and having a family of his own; years ago, maybe he would have wanted that with her, his fiancee Sineka, and yet things had not quite turned out that way. One too many drinks, as it always went, and she had gone up in flame with the rest of the tavern.

Some part of him still feared that maybe someday he'd do it again, and maybe the next time, he'd lose Azula the same way he'd lost her. And he was sure that part of him would still fear that, and there was no real getting over that. He had been the reason Sineka died, and no one could say it was particularly easy, dealing with the knowledge you yourself had killed someone you loved. If anything, the more time went on the worse he felt for it. Yet, so too was he afraid of losing Azula to his fear that he would indeed lose her, and it was in that new fear that he found the will to keep caring about her, to remain beside her. Sometimes, he thought even a fear could become a strength, if one simply knew how to use it to an advantage. Or perhaps he was just that kind of guy.

"I guess in a sense I wasn't either," he answered. After a moment, he flopped over on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She gave a quiet smile and shifted over, falling onto him and wrapping her arms around his waist. Instinctively, his wrapped around her too.  
"It was a nice try though," she whispered. "I almost thought he'd okay it when mom... I suppose even she can't change his mind."  
Suyis chuckled. "Well, I'll come visit. I'm getting my own ship out of this, so I can stay in the vicinity if I want."  
"Nah," she said. "Go sail around the world, see the sights. No need to waste it on staying close to me."  
"Hey." He sat up, tugging her up with him, and pinned her with the most sincere stare she'd ever seen out of him. "All of that means nothing at all if you're not with me. Even if I could go see the world, I wouldn't do it without you."

Azula smiled, very lightly, letting her gaze fall and linger on their hands, still stubbornly joined together. "You know, once I thought I'd be alone forever. Funny how things like this work out."  
"I like to think of it as a happy accident."  
She snorted in amusement. "Happy accident. That's a very good way of putting it."  
"Let's not worry about that." A shift, and he fell over again, inadvertently pulling her with him; she let out a surprised squeak, falling onto his chest. At least he was comfortable, that was always a bonus. "Tonight it's just me and you, no rebellion to worry about for once, and maybe for a little while, we can pretend morning never has to come."

"I suppose we can." She moved around, resting her chin on her hands so she could look at him. A wry smile formed. "For a pirate thief demolition man, you sure are sweet sometimes."  
He just snickered. "Well, that, my lady, is because you had never met a pirate until you met me. Them scurvy knaves just wish they were pirates is all."  
"They give you real pirates a hell of a bad name."  
"We kind of like it that way. It makes it easier to impress if they expect nothing good."  
"I don't want you to wait forever, Susu. What if they never let me out?"

It went quiet for a few heartbeats, and then he let out a sigh. He seemed amused, but he always did, and if she paid attention she could see the sadness behind the amused sparkle in his eyes. "Then I guess I'll be waiting until the end of our days."  
"If it were the other way around, I'd wait for you too." Never did she think she would ever say that and mean it, but she did then, and in a year she could still say it and mean it. Sometime two years ago; that was when she first said it and meant it.  
"I know." A gentle dark hand tugged her paler one out from under her chin, placing a quiet kiss to her palm. "And that's why I can wait. No matter how long it takes, I'll still be waiting."

He shifted a little, catching her lips with his. Yes, for once, they'd pretend tomorrow never had to come.

* * *

**Notes:** Alright, next chapter is the last. Woo! I'm excited to finally have this complete. LOL. I know I kind of skimmed over the actual invasion, and that's mostly because... I was so tired of this rebellion by the end I just wanted it over and done with. So, now it is.

"Lux Aeterna", composed by Clint Mansell. Incorrectly known as "Requiem for a Dream".


	14. When I'm Gone

**When I'm Gone**

_**Six Months Later**_

"**I**f you don't get your rear end out of this bathroom in fifteen seconds or less, I'm busting the door down." Well, maybe a little bit higher a number than that in the end. Zuko was just that kind of guy, the type that worried about his appearance and fussed over this or that detail. Everything had to be perfect, down to the last _button_, and if it wasn't it was officially the end of the world. This was especially true considering what today even _was_. Indeed, _finally_, the Fire Lord was getting married. The entire nation was buzzing with the news, stories were told, rumors were passed, invitations were given out; surely, it would be the largest event in the Fire Nation for _years_ in both directions, barring of course the end of the War which was rather big a thing yes.

"Zuko, I mean it."  
"Just one more thing," he answered, a loud _clack_ partially drowning out the words.  
"No, not one more thing. Get out here. YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR OWN WEDDING!"

Really, Azula hoped Hakaea and Katara were having an easier time with the bride. It had taken him far too long to get the courage to ask, and even longer than that to actually do it. Part of the reason why was Zuko insisted on visiting Kaijin again. He _had_ to make her ring himself, and had thought it best to ask a blacksmith named Shin Yu for help in making this ring. The end result was absolutely stunning, and Azula thought it a shame Toph couldn't actually _see_ it. Sure she could sense it just fine, felt it alright, knew what shape it was in and how many stones were in it. But she couldn't see the colors, the contrast of the silver against the gold, the red and the green, all entwined together in an endless loop.

_I heard you two talking.  
Oh. Sorry you had to hear that.  
I don't mind. ... I expected you two to run off in the middle of the night. I'm glad you didn't._

"How's everything in here?" Azula's gaze flicked up to Ursa, smiling calmly but under that she knew their mother was very happy. She had been during the last wedding she was present for as well.  
"Zuko won't come out of the bathroom," Azula promptly reported. Ursa frowned slightly.  
"Zuko, the guests are already streaming in, you'll be late if you push it much further."  
"I already told him that, it didn't work." The younger girl flopped into the chair by the door, booted feet dangling in front of the golden door handle. She was even nice enough to wear some of her mother's old clothes rather than her own; by now she'd outgrown her own royal dresses, and thus the only garments she had to wear were things Suyis had either bought or stolen, depending, and none of it was particularly suited to a wedding. More for swabbing the deck; he was rather picky about how shiny his _Kyrie Eleison_'s deck was.

She was the maid of honor; Aang was best man. Suyis had thrown a tiny little fit about not being best man, but then he would probably be drunk most of the night anyhow, so in the end it was for the best. He was still in the lineup, just not at the front, that was all.

_I should stop running. As easy as it is, it never really gets anyone anywhere.  
You know I denied your request for a reason.  
I know. I accepted it then and I still do now. I haven't made myself to be particularly trustworthy and that's no one's fault but my own. As easy as it is to believe it was __**his**__ fault I ended up that way, it was my own._

"Alright, I meant it, I'm seriously busting this door down now." She really had spent far too much time around Suyis and his overly pushy habits. But if it got the job done, well, damn it, it got the job done that was all she needed to know. And she stood up, pulled her arm back, and right then, the door opened. One look at him, and both her and their mother let out a very loud sigh. "You look like a train wreck."  
"That's the first thing you say?"  
"Seriously. Mom, tell him he needs better taste. And for Agni's sake, learn to dress yourself, back in you go." She turned him around (seriously, he did look like something the hunting dogs had dragged in, but it was fixable) and shoved him back in. Ursa followed, intending to help speed the process up somewhat in hopes of getting him standing at the altar by the time Toph was done.

_You've grown a lot over the years.  
Mm. I owe that in part to him. I did tell you he taught me a lot. I meant every syllable. I think, without trying, he gave me all the answers I'd gotten lost in the search for. And then he became my first real friend.  
I see that._

"Azula, hand me that comb." She reached around him, plucking the comb off the counter and passing it to Ursa. With any luck, they'd have him presentable in a few minutes max. A pause here, as both women tugged the shirt off him, and Azula went to searching for a different one while Ursa redid his hair.  
"Guys, come on, you said I'll be late!"  
"Yes, but it is not so pressing a matter as we will allow you out of this room looking like that," Ursa replied tautly. Oh no; her son was not looking like a drunken beggar at his own wedding. She made a note to ask Azula to start training him in the various ways of Fire Nation fashion. The woman was hardly around the capital anymore, being very careful not to fall back into the same patterns she had been stuck in before, but when she was around, she spent a good deal of time with her brother. It was a change that Ursa had to admit she was fond of.

_It's like... having a part of you missing, and not really knowing it is until you find it again, in someone else.  
You know if you were lying, I don't think you would be able to think about it that way.  
Oh Zuzu, how do you know I'm still not lying? But I guess you have a point. Before the War ended I don't think I'd seen anyone as much more than a pawn._

"Blue or green?"  
"Is there a silver?" Azula blinked, rummaging through the pile of clothes the two had brought up earlier, before he'd locked himself into his bathroom for all eternity it seemed.  
"Yep, silver and gray."  
"That will do. Here, quickly, get it on before I get his hair done all the way."

_Don't make me regret this Azula.  
Didn't anyone tell you yet? It's time to stop regretting, and start living again._

* * *

"**I** am _not_ wearing that." No way. Toph Bei Fong was _**not getting in that**_. They could shove one of the bridesmaids in it, certainly they would be quite a bit more interested in wearing it. That was not to say it wasn't gorgeous, rather, it very much was; the top was form fitting, made to fit Toph of course, green and gold sequins sparkling along the halter style collar that came down in a v shape. Hakaea's mother was kind enough to create a beaded design at the crook of the v, the Earth Kingdom symbol with the Fire Nation's flame blazing before it strung between the hemming. A gold panel fell down from there, lined in fire red, dangling all the way to the knees.

It was the skirt that annoyed the bride; the top layer was a smooth silk with a slight train in the back, but under that was several layers of ruffly lacy stuff, making it gradually poof outward. And the ruffly lacy stuff was where it became a no fucking way in the nine worlds. That was where Toph drew the line. It was bad enough already, considering what kind of crap her mother wanted to stick in her hair, and then they wanted to stuff her in _**that**_. She could handle the sparkly stuff and the tight fit, but the lacy ruffly stuff was where it became a no-no, just for Agni's sake **no**.

"Come on Toph, don't make this harder than it needs to be," Hakaea pleaded.  
"Nope, not getting me in that."  
"It won't suck your soul out, we promise," Hakaea added. Toph still stubbornly shook her head. Well, desperate times called for desperate measures. Katara sighed.  
"Alright," she started, "just so you know, we love you very much. Think of this as payback for all those months of teasing." And with that, the Waterbender tackled the slightly taller young woman, resisting her struggling; Hakaea promptly pulled the dress over the girl's head and tugged it in place, a move that really only worked because Toph had stopped struggling after that for lack of interest in shredding a dress her friends had made her.  
"Now that you're in it, I bet you can't stay in it," Katara snickered.  
"... I know that ploy." And indeed she did know that ploy. It was a trick aimed at her love for a challenge. Maybe just this once, she'd just play along with it. "You think Zuko will like it?"

"Toph, you're gorgeous. He won't be able to take his eyes off you."  
"Hehe, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets all tongue tied like guys do sometimes," Hakaea giggled. Since she and Jiva had finally started getting serious with their romance, she didn't seem quite so inclined toward giggling so much. Except at weddings. At her own, she giggled from here to the South Pole. Then when Suyis and Azula got married, she giggled from here to the Northern Fortress. No doubt, she'd do the same here. Come to think, it was mildly sad to know Zuko's sister had gotten married before he did. Something about the perfect ring; and yet he could have handed her the simplest, most basic and cheaply designed hunk of metal anyone had ever seen and she would still have been overjoyed.

She sighed a bit, flopping into a chair, careful not to shred the silk. It felt like a million gold pieces, and it meant even more knowing Katara, Hakaea and her mother Kariya had made it. It was not a dress like everyone else's; it was a dress made specifically for her, for this day. Probably one of the biggest days in all of the ones she had, and maybe it was a little less the revolt at the dress being ruffly and more her nerves twisting around. Who would have thought, Toph of all people, nervous on her wedding day. This had to go down in the history books. First of all, she was _nervous_.

Her mother peeked her head in the door. "I see we're ready then," she said, her voice all a cheer. With all the grace befitting her station, Poppy wandered over and plucked a hairbrush off the side table, taking her daughter's hair out of the mess of a bun it was in and carefully working her way through the knots and tangles. "You're beautiful Toph."  
"You're my mother, you're supposed to say that."  
Poppy just giggled at her, patting her shoulder. "I was nervous when I married your father too. We'd been friends for a long time before then, and yet I was still nervous."  
"You and dad turned out alright."  
"Mm, we have our days when we would rather not be married, but I think that comes with the territory."

She paused, gently twisting Toph's hair into a bun wrapped in a braid; under it, Poppy would slide a comb in that held a half ring of white rhinestones and a sheer veil bunched at either end.

"It's a big step, getting married. I never thought we'd be here, but here we are."  
"I thought you and dad would have put up a bigger fight than this," Toph admitted. Sure, she was marrying the Fire Lord, kind of a big deal that, and besides, it _could_ be construed as an international symbol of peace, her and Zuko's marriage forever going down in history as a union of Fire and Earth rather than just a man and a woman. But she _was_ getting married and really, she'd never thought her parents would ever _let her_, regardless of who it was. But they'd accepted it rather easily.  
"Oh, dear, your father and I just want you to be happy and safe, that's all." Another pause, and she secured the braid in place with a thick silver pin. "I think it taught us something, you being gone so long during the War. And when you came back it was obvious there was a whole other side to our daughter we'd never seen before. It was... a bit scary, finally realizing here was this young woman, _perfectly capable_ young woman at that, whom had grown right before our eyes and we'd never seen it because we were too busy trying to protect her from things she didn't need protection from." Poppy sighed. "And knowing that, our little girl had turned out alright in the end, had become someone we didn't even know, it was a bit of a harsh smack in the face by reality. Whether we like it or not, I have no doubt you'd marry the man, no matter what we said. We may as well make it easier for everyone involved and be happy for you hm?"

Toph smiled a bit, partially amused, partially sad. "I suppose. But I'd like to think you're really alright with it because you're alright with it, and not just because it's easier."  
"If you're happy, so are we. Zuko's a nice man, not... quite what we had in mind for you but then this conversation slides outside being happy for you and being overly protective again. And I certainly wouldn't have wanted _my_ parents choosing my husband for me, I don't imagine you'd have taken too easily to it either."  
"Probably not." She paused, following her mother's movements, turning her head here and there to make it easier on her. "I love you mom."  
Poppy just smiled. "I know. I love you too. And for goodness sake, come and visit once in a while hm?"

* * *

**S**huffle shuffle. Nervous Avatar was nervous. Why was Aang nervous anyway, it wasn't _his_ wedding. Suyis being, well, Suyis, he decided to simply not think about it too much. "Oi, hand me that scarf over there, would you Jeevs?" The man in question tossed said scarf at the pirate and went back to braiding his hair; how the heck that guy could manage to _braid_ his _hair_ was beyond Suyis' mildly lacking comprehension, but then he was a pirate, he just tossed his hair into a ponytail and left it at that. Arr matey. Besides, Azula seemed to think it was sexier when it was a mess, and hey he couldn't really complain about that.

"And Aang, if you don't quit it I'm gonna hurt you."  
"This is a big deal!"  
Sokka snorted. "He'll get over it and it'll pass eventually," he said, straightening his shirt. "He did the same thing at my wedding."  
"He didn't do that at mine..." No, actually, Suyis was not even sure if Aang was there at all. It all got lost in the very heavy haze of wine; that was most of what he remembered of his wedding, lots of wine and Azula dragging him off for their honeymoon a wee bit early. Not that he'd been complaining then either.  
"Actually, I think he did," Jiva said, pondering. "Well in any case, it's best to just let Aang be... Aang. And excited."  
"How do you _do that_ anyway?" Suyis pointed at the braid.  
"Oh, three sections, this one goes over that one and then -"  
"You lost me at 'this one'."

The Airbender just rolled his eyes, finishing his braid quickly and then strode over, snagging a comb and untangling the mess of red and black. Oddly, it took only a few minutes and then Jiva went to braiding it. "And don't whine at me about 'Azula likes it messy'. Azula likes it regardless. And I bet you she'll like it like this too. Girls dig it for some reason."  
"Think Suki would too?" Sokka's gaze flicked up to the ceiling in thought.  
"Probably," Jiva answered. "Like I said, girls dig it for some reason."

_Azula and I had a nice chat earlier.  
I don't think that's really any of my business your Fiery-ness.  
It does concern you, you know.  
... that never bodes well._

"Forty silver says Zuko comes out lookin' like the wrong end of a mop."  
Sokka snickered. "Somehow, I doubt Ursa and Azula would even _let him_."  
"Probably not," Jiva agreed. Deftly, he tied the end of Suyis' braid. "Ta, probably the best you've ever had your hair looking."  
"I resemble that remark." Honestly, it was a surprise Jiva had even managed to de-tangle the mess Suyis called his hair; it was a rare occurrence, Suyis brushing his hair out, mostly because he was often too busy either drinking, spending time with his wonderful wife, making sure his ship crew didn't break anything and or sail hopelessly off course, haggling with merchants when they were docked... it just never came up. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for him huh?

_Just this once, I think it does.  
Did I miss something?  
You missed a lot. There was a reason I denied your marriage request at first. And now I think I know what I need to._

"I take that back then," Suyis said, eying the rather long black braid now hanging over his shoulder (he would never get used to that; it was a good thing it would only be there long enough to be impressive). "Forty silver says Toph looks absolutely stunning."  
"Don't they always?" Sokka asked.  
"Maybe, but her in particular in a _dress_ being all fancy and pretty, now that's something you don't see every day."

_Mm, pulling a sneaky were you?  
Heh. I'm taking back the deny. Azula is free to go wherever she pleases now, and if she wants to marry you, you both have my blessings._

"You've got a point there. I think the last time I saw her in a dress was... well hell she didn't even wear a dress for _my_ wedding either."  
"Don't feel too bad," Jiva chuckled, patting Sokka's shoulder. "I don't think she wore a dress for anyone's wedding."  
"Does a skirt count?" Aang wondered. "She did wear a skirt when Katara and I got married, sort of. Well, it was a skirt with pants under it but it was still a skirt."  
"... no, doesn't count," Suyis deadpanned.

_Just do me a favor.  
And what would that be?  
Take care of my sister. I should have, but it's something I failed at and it's too late to fix it, so instead, maybe you can do that for both of us._

"And if they put her in red and gold, I'm seriously going to laugh myself to death."  
"Somehow," Jiva snickered, "I get the feeling it'll be red and green."  
"What a combination."  
"Hey, it's better than white."  
Aang frowned. "I happen to like white."  
"Nothing against white of course, your Avatarness."

_Ah stupid.  
Pardon?  
It's only too late when you've given up. You're her brother. You're someone I can never be, and someone I can never replace, or be a substitute for. And now that you have the chance to, make it up to her. Be the brother you should have been, build the relationship you wanted to have. Nothing is over until you've let go. So don't let go._

"Well, I am heading downstairs now. I want some of that wine down there." Suyis brushed himself off, straightening his sleeves a bit and headed that way. Jiva followed.  
"I'd better go with, make sure you don't end up in more trouble than you can handle."  
The pirate just laughed. "Oh please, I need not worry about trouble my friend. Trouble need worry about _me_."  
"Well that's rather disconcerting."

_I feel a lot better about this now. You're a good man, Suyis.  
Heh, only when you least expect it._

* * *

"**W**ho picked this thing anyway?" Mai wrinkled her nose a bit, patting the silk down. At least she could be thankful knowing it wasn't annoyingly ruffly. Compared to the bride's dress, the bridesmaids looked boring, but that was half the point. She'd seen the dress Katara and Hakaea had somehow managed to stuff Toph into. Points to them for getting her in it, but it was certainly a fancy looking thing. Their dresses were plain white with gold at the hems, the same style of halter top only theirs had a Mandarin styled collar and sheer fabric covering the diamond shape the hem made. And the skirt did not have all that ruffly stuff under it.

"I'll have you know, I did," Katara answered, dark hands highly busy getting her hair up in a bun. Mai was _so_ not wearing flowers in her hair. Maybe a little ring of flowers around her wrist but she was not going through the trouble of getting them in her hair. Toph would not even notice (and even if she did, she probably would not care either), she could get away with it.  
"It's so..."  
"Girly," Azula finished for her.  
"Yeah, girly. And white, very white."  
"White is a good thing," Katara started, somewhat defensive. "It's supposed to symbolize purity and new beginnings. A good thing."  
"Yeah yeah, good thing."

Mai paused, eying the dark red and gold dress Azula had pulled herself into that morning. "And how come you get to wear that and we have to wear _white_?"  
"Because," Azula replied, tone matter of fact, "**I** am the sister, I get away with stuff you can't. ... well, more like I'm maid of honor, and you're... well, not."  
"Pf." Mai flopped into a chair, attempting to care enough about her hair to get it fairly decent. "Why was I made a bridesmaid anyway? I would have figured Toph hated me."  
"Ha, no," Katara shook her head. "Toph doesn't _really_ hate anyone. Besides, you two got along well enough before your... supposed death... thing. I doubt a few years really changed much."  
"Either that or we just stopped silently waging a war over the same guy and that was all that changed."

"Oh don't sound so bitter," Azula chided. Her hair was already done of course, courtesy her mother, and rather impressive indeed. As expected from a member of the royal family of the Fire Nation. "Toph _is_ allowed to like you, and I bet she made you a part of the festivities for that reason and no other."  
"Unless of course it's her way of rubbing Mai's nose in the fact she's marrying Zuko and not her," Hakaea pondered aloud.  
"... Hakaea. Anyway, I say enjoy it while you can. Who knows, you might actually have fun for once. Besides, it took a _lot_ of Dragon Hawks to track you down. Zuko still sees you as a friend. At the very least, try for him."

"I had no problem coming. It's the putting me in a white dress part I'm having trouble with."  
Katara snickered. "You sound like Toph. You're a little more alike than you'd first believe." She slid over, nicking the brush from Mai's hand and took to doing that for her. It was probably for the best; Mai didn't tend to do anything fancy with her hair most days and really could not care less if it was attractively styled or not. Mai had spent the last few months wandering, more or less due to Azula suggesting it and, well it was the best idea she had at the time. Later, probably sometime after their wedding, Mai had run into Azula and Suyis. First off, that was an impressive ship; it honestly did not look like a pirate ship, despite technically _being_ one, and the crew wasn't so bad. A bit rough around the edges and they enjoyed remote islands and rum far too much for their own good, but what could you do. The _Kyrie Eleison_ even had all its wood stained a nice tint of caramel brown, darker brown accents and gold leaf detailing. Half that ship's wealth was the ship itself no doubt.

They had offered at the time to integrate her into their ship crew. She knew Linhao was dead now, and maybe that didn't make much of a difference, but she had still felt the need to wander around some more. Maybe it was a strange sense of mourning, who knew. Sometime after that, Jiva and Hakaea had finally gotten engaged and married, and now it was the Fire Lord's turn. After all, everyone was married but him. And her, but that didn't matter much either. Maybe she would have married Linhao. Maybe not. There was no sense in thinking about it too much.

Yet, maybe after this, maybe she'd join their crew. It would probably be a little less boring than wandering around aimlessly on her own. At least she would have the ship crew for entertainment, and if Suyis himself was anything to judge his crew by, they were certainly an interesting lot.

"There," Katara said, her tone beaming pride. Mai's charcoal gaze flicked to the mirror. It was up in a half bun, a braid wrapped around it, bits of it left to fall freely in the back. That was certainly better than anything Mai herself could have done with it, merely out of disinterest in the doing part. "We'd better go get in place. Poppy works rather quickly, I bet she's already done getting Toph's hair up in all those sparkly things."  
"Sparkly things?"  
"You'll see what I mean when she gets there. I highly doubt anyone will ever forget that thing. It about blinded Sokka."  
"Eugh, sparkles and happy and cake, did anyone make a cake?" Not that Mai was interested.  
"Of course," Azula snorted. "That was the first thing done and that's only because mom made sure it was done yesterday. My brother sucks at planning ahead, we all know this; his garments were chosen at the last second. He tried to come out in the simplest ensemble I had ever seen. Heck, I've seen _Suyis_ wear better, and that, ladies, is sad."

Mai gave an appreciative smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

"**W**e are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of not only two people, but two nations, as one..."

No one was really listening. It figured as much, as everyone else was far too excited for what came _after_ the wedding itself, and they'd sat through plenty of these ceremonies the last six months. First of course was Suyis and Azula's wedding, which had been... well, quite the story to tell mom, what with half the then newly rebuilt _Kyrie Eleison_ crew getting into the champagne, and never mind the other half and what _they_ were doing. For the record, no one wanted to know. Then it was Jiva and Hakaea's, quieter and less of a riot, but still a story to tell. And now it was this one, Zuko and Toph, tying themselves together until the end of their days. And may Agni have mercy on anyone who had a problem with it.

Azula was beaming happily, Aang just barely containing his excitement. Of all people, Toph was absolutely stunning, and there wasn't a head that did not turn and follow her every movement up to the altar to take her place beside Zuko. And he of course still had yet to tear his eyes away from her. She'd grown a good deal since the War, and, if a little tomboyish still, had matured into a lovely woman. Dark eyeliner framed sightless eyes, only making them stand out more, a light dusting of pale green across her eyelids. One almost had to wonder exactly how Poppy had managed to make her daughter sit still long enough to do such things, but then it was Poppy, and in more recent years the two had become quite a bit closer than they'd been before.

From her seat, Kariya seemed highly proud, no less so than Katara and Poppy, happy to see Toph in the dress they'd worked so hard on. It fit her absolutely perfect, hugging all the right places and accentuating all the right curves. Curves that, at one time, no one believed would ever be there. And for once, she seemed positively content, standing before Zuko and clinging to his hand, their wrists tied together with a red ribbon symbolizing eternal unity. Maybe she was. It was very rare a thing, Toph looking content, and that was the best anyone had to go off.

"Do you Fire Lord Zuko wish to take this woman as your Fire Lady?" Several friends' gazes flicked to Toph rather than Zuko, expecting her to interrupt with a brusque 'of course he does duh', yet she didn't, sightless gaze seemingly trained on their hands, joined together.  
"Of course."  
"And do you Lady Toph wish to -"  
"Put up with his depression, nasty temper, pessimism and otherwise annoying little antics that oh so make him who he is?" And there was the so very Toph-like outburst. Azula giggled. "Of course."

"Do you two have your vows in order?"  
"Sort of..." Zuko fidgeted a bit.  
"You really do suck at planning ahead," Toph mused. "Wing it Sparky."  
"You asked for it," and he let out a puff of breath. "Fire Lords are supposed to be good at this, this whole public speaking thing and all that nice shindig stuff, but... I guess I've never really thought about it until now. Love I noticed is just one of those things that sweeps you up and carries you away before you realize you're even off the ground. And I don't want to lose that. Every morning I wake up and I think about you, and what you're doing, and what kind of things you might say to me as I grumble about this or that meeting, and I realize now you're a very big part of the reason I get out of bed. I don't tell you I love you enough. I want to fix that."

"Oh stupid dunderhead," Toph shook her head. "You tell me that all the time. Every time you hold my hand, every time your arm wraps around my shoulders, every time you laugh at something I said or did, with every game of tag you let me pull you into. You say it every time we fall asleep holding each other in front of the fireplace, every time I wake up next to you and your fingers have threaded through mine while you were asleep, every night you wear yourself out with Fire Lord stuff and yet still have time to ask me how my day was. You tell me all the time Zuko. And it's more than enough."

With that, Toph reached up and wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck, pulling him down to her level (not so far anymore) for a very passionate kiss. Azula of course was the first to erupt into cheering, and when the two had finally broken apart, they remained in close proximity, leaning against one another.

"... well, I think my work here is done now. I now pronounce you husband and wife?" Suyis chuckled, finding the Fire Sage's confusion quite amusing indeed. Yet, Suyis found _everyone's_ confusion amusing, even his own.  
"We were waiting for it, my man. Here, have a glass of wine. The good stuff from Gaoling." Azula laughed again, and he winked at her.  
"Don't you all go getting drunk at my wedding reception, I will kick some shins. Nice and hard too. Don't think I can't whoop you in a dress!" Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Toph stepped around to Zuko's side and promptly hefted him up into her arms.  
"HYIEK!"  
"Oh, startled by a little girl picking you up!"  
"What are you doing?"  
"This is the part where we enter our humble abode to begin our honeymoon," Toph answered matter of factly.  
"I am aware of that but I'm supposed to carry you!"  
"Excuse me? I think everyone knows who wears the pants around here!" The bride didn't bother responding to her groom's various disgruntled mumbles about 'de-manning', and simply turned and headed for the palace.

And just before she entered the hall, she stopped and tossed her bouquet over her shoulder. A slight _tish_ sound was heard as it landed right in Mai's lap. The woman blinked, dark gaze flicking from her lap up to what she was expecting to be Toph, but instead, found herself staring at one of Suyis' new crew members. He gave her a little nod of his head, and a rather suggestive smile.  
"You did that on purpose!" Mai screeched. Toph just cackled.  
"Looks like you're next!"

* * *

**R**ather unceremoniously, Toph flopped him on the bed and proceeded to flop onto it herself. Comically, she made a mock wheezing sound. "You Princess, you need to lose weight, and quit eating so many moon peaches."  
"Hey, I'm not _that_ heavy. And you were the one that picked me up, no one made you do it." A pause, and he sat up, shifting around to face her. "Did you mean that?"  
"Mean what, the part where I said quit eating so many moon peaches? Considering you don't eat too many of those anyway -"  
"No," he interrupted, a bit of a laugh in his tone. "I meant the part where you said... basically, just being around me was enough for you."

Toph let out a small puff of air, sitting up as well. "Honestly, if it wasn't, do you really think I would have married you? And for that matter, let Katara and Hakaea stuff me in this dress to start with, and for the record, _yes_, they _did_ stuff me in it. Literally." He almost laughed at the mental image that came to mind while attempting to envision this little scenario. "I'm not really after your money. I've got plenty of my own. I can live without being Fire Lady, that's a minor drawback to be honest, I hate dressing up and being pretty and friendly with this or that person so that wasn't it. The international influence boost can go away."

Carefully, so as not to shred the silk in the process, she flopped over onto his lap, smiling at him a bit. "I married you cause I love you, and yes, all of that, that's enough for me. You know I've never really been particularly picky anyway."  
He snorted. "This depends upon one's definition of 'picky'."  
"Hey now." A pause passed. "... but I suppose you're probably right."  
"I can live with it." His hand reached over, claiming hers, fingers intertwining seemingly of their own accord.  
"I should hope so," she answered. "You _are_ the one that married me after all."  
"So I did."  
"What?"

It was strange to him now that he thought about it, just how quickly she could pick up on his various moods. "Just thinking."  
"Uh oh. That's rarely ever a good thing, Sparky."  
"I resemble that remark."  
"What are you thinking about?"  
"Mm. The usual." That wasn't much of an answer, of course. He smiled a bit, trying to find the words to explain. "How odd it is that we've gotten to this point. Whether I can be a good husband or not. How the heck we're going to make this work to start with, there are aspects of my life I know you really don't care for, and -"  
"Ahh, ah," Toph interrupted. "Listen to me okay? Just be you. I love you, not who you think you should be. The changes will come of their own accord over time, and that's alright. That said, if it's for you, I'd put up with almost anything."  
"Almost anything?"  
"Yes, almost. For instance, I really don't care for even the mere idea of Sokka on cactus juice again. As amusing as it was, it was also very _very_ freaky."

A definite laugh wrenched itself out. Her smile became a bit brighter, and she shifted around to sit in his lap instead, resting her arms on his shoulders. "That's better. Quit worrying so much. My job as your Fire Lady is to tell you to knock it off."  
"Are you sure that was in the guidebook?"  
"What guidebook?" She snickered a bit. "Ah, wait I remember now. The same one that said something about now that we're married we can have heirs and all that."  
Despite mentally willing himself not to, he still turned a slight tinge of pink. "Heirs?"  
"Yep. Hey, one more thing I can make you work for."  
One of his brows quirked upward. "How does one make their husband work for _that_?"  
"Oh very easily, Sparky."

Her characteristic devilish smirk crossed her face, that same one he swore he loved so much, and without much further ado, she promptly plucked the flame-shaped gold topknot ornament from his hair and took off toward the door. "If you're man enough to catch me, we might start tonight!" A click and a thack signaled she'd made it to the door and was now speeding down the hallway. Zuko, on the other hand, just laughed and flopped over onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Girls are crazy." At least his love life would never be boring ever again.

* * *

_I need you.  
Like the sun needs the sky.  
Like the ocean needs the tide.  
Forever and always.  
Until the end of time._

* * *

**Notes:** Welp, there we have it, the end of LTS! It's been a wonderful journey with you! I look forward to starting Monochrome back up and hope to see some of my LTS readers over there. I'll be taking a bit of a break before I get Mono running again though, need to get these essays I've been avoiding for LTS done. xD! I hope I didn't end it horribly and that everyone enjoyed the ride!

This one is "When I'm Gone" by Eminem, I was thinking just the instrumentals. Adieu tout le monde! =3


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